12 incredible facts about the first moon landing

Though each title in the Turning Points in U.S. History series purports to present a dozen incredible facts about historic moments in American history, it's perhaps more useful to call them important developments in history-making events. First Moon Landing starts with the launch of Sputnik before profiling key moments in the space race that led up to the Apollo 11 mission. Each fact is presented on a two-page spread, which includes color photographs or illustrations, inset boxes with additional information about key players or policies, and a bare-bones account of the chapter's information in a bulleted list. Although the nugget-sized bites of information will be appealing for reluctant readers, they may need to seek out additional information elsewhere for a more comprehensive view.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2016 Booklist

Gr 3-5-The volumes in this series are not limited to 12 facts; rather, they include 12 chapters containing a multitude of facts, presented in a traditional paragraph-by-paragraph format. If readers can make peace with a series name that does not fit, they will go on to discover content that is meaningful and nuanced. For instance, The Boston Tea Party not only describes the actual tea dump but explains why tea itself was so important, a good lesson for helping readers understand the many influences that go into political events. Most of the illustrations in the series are in black-and-white. Sidebars and illustrations are lined and/or shaded in green and orange. VERDICT The title is a misfit, but the content is top-notch. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.