Mahak Jain writes fiction and poetry for young people and adults. She is the author of three picture books: Maya (illust. by Elly MacKay), winner of the 2017 South Asia Book Award and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year; Bharatanatyam in Ballet Shoes (illust. by Anu Chouhan), nominated for the Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award and selected as a South Asia Book Award Honor Book; and The Only Astronaut (illust. by Andrea Stegmaier), also available in Portuguese and German and a TD Summer Reading Book selection. Mahak’s debut short story collection, We Are Only Human, is forthcoming from McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada. As well as being an author, she edits children's and adult fiction for several Canadian publishers and is a professor of creative writing at Sheridan College

Synopsis

The Only Astronaut

 A girl who loves solo space travel learns that having a partner can be even better. Avni loves being the only astronaut in her space station. She’s in charge of when she takes off and where she goes. But space exploration can be a lot of work for one astronaut. It’s time for a new mission: find an assistant. Avni crisscrosses the distant galaxies (her neighborhood) in search of the perfect partner. Does that even exist? Will Avni make space for a copilot or will it be mission impossible?