I read that book when I was a little kid and loved it *LOL* then again I was a science fiction fanatic.
I liked some but not all science fiction in the early 70's. I was a kid and we read some of it in school. Then I became more interested in 'romance'. LOL.
I am trying to find an old post of mine on a scientology thread. Basically, I remember being in a mall with my mom and seeing the L. Ron Hubbard display. Although still marketed as 'Science Fiction' with Bradbury and the others, they were also showing up (late 70's-early 80's? about the time they hooked Travolta) as 'Self Help' books and Hubbard had been on the talk shows a lot pushing the book 'series'. He had re-edited the 1950's sci-fi into a supposed self-help. On more than one trip to the mall, my mom was very adamant as she 'reminded' me not to read them, not ever, loudly, right there in the store, and that they were a failure as science fiction and worse as 'self help'. And then she loudly commented on the 'garbage' being displayed with the self help. We had borrowed one (Dianetics?) from the library, to check it out, so it wasn't just blind advice on her part.