Countdown

Starred review from July 30, 2018
“At first/ it’s only a dream—/ an ambitious, outrageous idea.” This account of NASA’s first Apollo missions marries a captivating free-verse narrative with lifelike illustrations as it takes readers through the 2,979 days from President Kennedy’s moonwalk announcement to Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind.” Gonzalez (Seven and a Half Tons of Steel) extends the realistic precision and lyrical imagery offered in words by Slade (Astronaut Annie) with vivid mixed-media illustrations that stun with photographic realism and varied perspectives, from a close-up of an astronaut’s gloved hand to expansive, breathtaking scenes of Earth from afar. A spread of statistical recaps of each mission and its astronauts further complement the lyrical lines, along with several full-color NASA archival photographs. Addendums offer an Apollo 11 postscript and a glimpse into the jobs required for the Apollo program. (Women and people of color, as per history, aren’t abundant in this account of U.S. astronauts.) Launched in advance of next year’s 50th anniversary of the first moon walk, this well-researched title offers a stirring introduction to one of humankind’s most impressive undertakings. Ages 10–14. Author’s agent: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary. (Sept.) ■

Starred review from October 1, 2018

Gr 5 Up-This stunning book accurately details the U.S. space race to the moon and the very real dangers and pitfalls that accompanied it. Slade's carefully crafted, often alliterative text, written in free verse, is both succinct and readable, drawing this large topic down to the most necessary and interesting facts with enough detail to excite young teens as well as adults who may have lived through the missions. Gonzalez states in a note that his goal was "to create the illusion of being there," and indeed he has, from the science fiction-looking cover, which shows the moon's glowing reflection on an astronaut's helmet, to the lifelike portraits of the astronauts in pastels, watercolor, colored pencil, and airbrush. The text emphasizes the short amount of time it took for the program to succeed, from the first ill-fated mission in January, 1967, to Apollo 11 in July, 1969, that carried two men to the moon. VERDICT Truly out of this world. A must-buy for most poetry collections.-Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2018
A free-verse ode to the Apollo program, still the high-water mark of this country's space program.Like Catherine Thimmesh's Team Moon (2006), this album is offered in tribute to the massive, collective eight-year effort to send explorers to our closest celestial neighbor and then bring them back. Slade intersperses resumes for the members of each Apollo crew up to Apollo 11 with extended poetic flights that include significant technical details along with dramatic passages: "Explosive fire. Deafening noise. / The rocket blasts off / above an inferno of white-hot flames." A prose coda offers nods to the major corporations that developed and built the Saturn V rocket and the spacecraft it carried, then an account of the Apollo 11 astronauts' triumphant reception back on Earth. Gonzalez's big, kaleidoscopic montages and page-filling close-ups of tense faces likewise highlight the drama and are so realistic as to be sometimes difficult to distinguish from the photos with which they are mixed. One glimpse of brown hands using a slide rule and an African-American woman (unidentified but probably Katherine Johnson) in another montage are the only indications here that the space program wasn't an all-white enterprise. Still, it makes a grand--if, so many years later, nostalgic--tale about a magnificent effort.A handsomely packaged look back at an epochal achievement. (author's note, illustrator's note, bibliography, sources, index) (Nonfiction/poetry. 10-13)

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Starred review from September 1, 2018
Grades 4-8 *Starred Review* Using narrative free verse, Slade recounts the U.S. race to the moon, focusing on the 2,979 days between President Kennedy's put-a-man-on-the-moon speech (May 25, 1961) and the successful lunar landing (July 20, 1969). She details Apollo 1's explosion, which caused the deaths of three astronauts; Apollos 2-3, which were grounded to retool for safety; Apollos 4-6, which tested the lunar module; Apollos 7-10, which returned astronauts to space and orbited the moon; and Apollo 11, which landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface. Slade's text is succinct yet full of intimate, insider details (for example, Armstrong and Aldrin left a patch commemorating the Apollo I astronauts on the moon), and the verse format results in appealing white space on most spreads. Gonzalez's mixed-media illustrations employ a realistic style that focuses on objects of significance: astronauts in full gear; a detaching, spent rocket engine; a fragile lunar module settling onto the Sea of Tranquility. Darker hues predominate, accented with bright yellows, reds, and oranges depicting rocket launches. Each chapter concludes with a spread summarizing the various missions and their astronauts, illustrated with captioned archival photos. Further information about the Apollo program, author and illustrator notes, and a bibliography are also appended. Elegant and informative, this is sure to attract casual browsers and true space nerds alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
This unique nonfiction picture book tells the story of the Apollo missions in poignant verse, accompanied by pastel, colored-pencil, and airbrush illustrations. Beginning with President Kennedy's 1961 challenge to land on the moon and ending with the success of Apollo 11 in 1969, the result is immersive and both factually and emotionally powerful. Inserts with photographs and facts about the missions appear throughout; additional contextual information is appended. Bib.

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