Apollo 8: the Mission that Changed Everything by Martin Sandler –OPTIONAL

Apollo 8: the Mission that Changed Everything by Martin Sandler, 158 pages. Candlewick, 2018, $25 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

This is the story of the Apollo 8 mission. It includes a events that led up to it, details of every aspect of the preparation, setbacks, training, and more. There are several asides with information about those things and people that contributed to the various aspects of making space travel possible such as Robert Goddard and his rockets and the controversial Wernher Von Braun. The bulk of the book really focuses on the astronauts themselves, bringing them to life with detailed information, quotes, and the story of their flight. Includes tons of photographs and lots of interesting facts and side stories.

I very much wanted to read this book, as one of my families prized possessions is an autographed photo of astronaut Jim Lovell and my grandmother. In school we always learned about Apollo 11 and this was my chance to learn more about Apollo 8. I found myself quickly bored, there is just so much setting the stage and filling out the world type of information that I felt like things were just moving too slowly. While the book does a very thorough job and is well written, I feel that only the most determined teenager (even one doing research) would wade through this book. As a book for adults, its probably closer to a win.

Reviewer: Stephanie MLS & Author.