While "Farmer in the Sky" isn't Heinlein at his absolute best, it is an exciting read for two groups: one, anybody who's ever been a Boy Scout, since that's essentially the main drive of the novel of a Boy Scout who goes to another world; and two, anybody who ever wanted to be a pioneeering farmer. The novel's emotions are driven by those two projects, and without a feeling for them, the novel isn't really going to work all that well. The plot that surrounds those two interests is minimal, as Bill goes from Earth to Ganymede, and suffers only two real problems, one minor, and one major (I won't give them away here; they're worth reading). But the novel is an early look at what settling another world would be like, even while it's heavily informed by historical examples of what happens to early colonies. Heinlein wasn't in his best environment when writing this one; he was in Hollywood, trying to prevent the suits from making his realistic look at the first moon shot, "Destination Moon," into a musical. I kid you not: they wanted the first astronauts to find dancing girls on the moon. So I don't really blame Heinlein for "Farmer in the Sky" not being his best; it's a wonder that it's as good as it is. Go start with "Star Beast" or "Tunnel in the Sky" of "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel." Then come back to this one and you'll enjoy it much more: even Heinlein on his worst days is better than almost anybody else.