You all probably saw those news stories a year or so back when a governing body of scientists demoted Pluto from official planetary status. It’s a big rock, they said, but not quite planet-size.

Well, this was not an uncontroversial decision. The American Museum of Natural History’s Neil deGrasse Tyson’s recent book The Pluto Files reveals quite how much hate mail he got, and reprints some of the most agitated letters–from small children. The best ones appear here, and I recommend starting with 7-year-old Will’s plea, which helpfully includes a hand-drawn picture of Pluto (labeled “Pluto,” with an arrow pointing to it).

Would I have been one of these children? I think those of you who’ve read my other geek-inflected posts know the answer to that.