Editing Farmer in the Sky (section)

==Reception==
[[Groff Conklin]] wrote that although ''Farmer in the Sky'' was "conceived as a novel for 'adolescents' ... this book is also one of the best of the month's output in science fiction for adults ... an adventure story with an unusual amount of realism in its telling. It is ''not'' childish".<ref name="conklin195102">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1951-02/Galaxy_1951_02#page/n99/mode/2up | title=Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf | work=Galaxy Science Fiction | date=February 1951 | access-date=17 October 2013 | author=Conklin, Groff |page=99}}</ref> [[Anthony Boucher|Boucher]] and [[J. Francis McComas|McComas]] named ''Farmer'' "just about the only ''mature'' science fiction novel of the year [1950]", describing it as "a magnificently detailed study of the technological and human problems of interplanetary colonization."<ref>"Recommended Reading," ''[[F&SF]]'', June 1951, p. 84</ref> [[Damon Knight]] found the novel "a typical Heinlein story ... typically brilliant, thorough and readable."<ref>"The Dissecting Table", ''[[Worlds Beyond (magazine)|Worlds Beyond]]'', February 1951, p. 93</ref> [[P. Schuyler Miller]] recommended the novel unreservedly, saying that Heinlein's "minute attention to detail ... has never been more fascinatingly shown."<ref>"Book Reviews", ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''. April 1951, p. 136</ref>

Surveying [[Heinlein juveniles|Heinlein's juvenile novels]], [[Jack Williamson]] noted that ''Farmer in the Sky''  "has harsh realism for a juvenile." He described it as "a novel of education" where the protagonist "tell[s] his own story in a relaxed conversational style."<ref>Jack Williamson, "Youth Against Space," ''Algol'' 17, 1977, p. 11.</ref>