194. Crisis in Space: Apollo 13 by Mark Beyer

Crisis in Space: Apollo 13 by Mark Beyer (Canada) - (US)
Survivor High Interest Books

Pages: 48
Ages: 10+
Finished: Aug. 29, 2011
First Published: 2002
Publisher: Children's Press
Genre: Children, non-fiction, space, space travel, tragedies
Rating: 3/5


First sentence:

Apollo 13 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 11, 1970.

Acquired: Borrowed a copy from my local library.

Reason for Reading: Read aloud to my ds as part of our history curriculum.

This is an accounting of the infamous Apollo 13 mission from the weeks leading up to the launch until the final results of the investigation afterwards. There are plenty of photographs and diagrams and the book's graphical design is highly pleasing to the eye. Divided into chapters, these are also divided into subheadings with a distinct graphic feature. Since this is a hi-lo reader the book passes on all the features needed to grab the attention of an older (high school) reader who still reads at a low level. The book is of course readily readable by an average 10 yo as well. Unfortunately, we weren't too terribly thrilled with the narrative. The first half of the book was the best. The build up to the disaster was tense and the information on how the mission took shape was entertaining. Once the flight experienced its troubles though the narrative took on a, sad to say, more monotonous, boring narrative that just didn't keep our attention well. Ds thought the incident was interesting but the book just didn't bring the intensity of the situation to life for him. We have the movie on hold at the library and will give that a try. I watched it years ago and enjoyed it, but I'm not sure how ds will react. We'll just have to wait and see!

PS - We've watched the movie now and ds loved it!