Wild Ride : My Journey from Cancer Kid to Astronaut

A young reader’s adaptation of the story of the youngest American to ever orbit the Earth—cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux—who shows us all that when we face our fears with hope and faith, the extraordinary is possible

“Hayley will capture your heart as she proves that even the wildest dreams can come true. Young minds will leave awestruck and eager to chase their own wild ride.”—Emily Calandrelli, host of Netflix’s Emily’s Wonder Lab

“It may be hard to believe while I’m gravity-bound on my bedroom floor, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time on Earth, it’s that as long as you keep saying yes, everything is possible,” says Arceneaux.

In this adaptation of her heartfelt memoir, especially inspiring for middle-grade readers, Arceneaux shares the details of her wild ride with never-before-told stories written especially for kids coming to this edition. Arceneaux not only tells readers what it was like to go to space—from training in a fighter jet to lifting off in a Dragon capsule—but she also offers stories from her childhood: things that she faced at the hospital when going through cancer treatment, what she had to overcome when she went back to school, and the courage it took to dream big dreams for her teenage and adult years.

For students navigating a time of uncertainty, and for the adults and educators who seek to offer them hope, Arceneaux’s uplifting story is one that will inspire kids for years to come. She offers wisdom and courage to anyone fighting against the odds, and shows us that dreaming is always possible.

Hayley Arceneaux is the author of Wild Ride and a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital physician assistant, a career she committed to at age ten after surviving pediatric bone cancer. She joined the first all-civilian orbital space mission, Inspiration4, on September 15, 2021, and successfully water-landed three days later. At age twenty-nine, she became the youngest American to orbit the Earth, the first pediatric cancer survivor in space, and the first astronaut with a prosthetic body part.