Editing Starman Jones (section)

==Reception==
[[Groff Conklin]] in 1954 found the novel to be "a richly textured and thoroughly mature tale" and the best of the seven Heinlein juveniles available.<ref name="conklin196104">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Conklin
 |first=Groff
 |author=
 |last2=
 |first2=
 |date=May 1954
 |title=Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf
 |department=
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1954-05/Galaxy_1954_05#page/n129/mode/2up 
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=129–133
 |type=
}}</ref> [[Anthony Boucher]] and [[J.&nbsp;Francis McComas]] praised it for its "good character-development, rousing adventure-telling, and brilliant creation of several forms of extra-Terrestrial life".<ref>"Recommended Reading", ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]]'', January 1954, pp.&nbsp;94–95.</ref> [[P.&nbsp;Schuyler Miller]] ranked it "close to the best in mainline science fiction".<ref>"The Reference Library", ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'', May 1954, p.&nbsp;149.</ref>

''[[New York Times]]'' reviewer Villiers Gerson declared ''Starman Jones'' to be "superior science-fiction. ... carefully plotted, lucidly and beautifully written".<ref>"A Boy in Space", ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 15, 1953.</ref>

Surveying Heinlein's juvenile novels, [[Jack Williamson]] described ''Starman Jones'' as "a classic example of the ''[[bildungsroman]]'' pattern" and noted that "with its bold symbolism, the book makes a universal appeal". Despite "coincidence and occasional melodrama" in the plotting, Williamson concluded that "the novel is a fine juvenile [which] reflects hopes and fears we all have known".<ref>Jack Williamson, "Youth Against Space", ''Algol'' 17, 1977, p.&nbsp;12.</ref>

[[Damon Knight]] wrote<ref>{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Damon|authorlink=Damon Knight|year=1967|title=In Search of Wonder|url=https://archive.org/details/insearchofwonder00knig|url-access=registration|location=Chicago|publisher=Advent}}</ref> that in ''Starman Jones''
{{blockquote|Heinlein is doing something more than just earning a living at the work he does supremely well: he's preparing a whole generation{{snd}} the generation that will live to see the year 2000{{snd}} for the Age of Space that's as real to him now as it will be, must be, to them.}}