Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this addition to the Tales of Young Americans series of informational picture books, Young tells the story of the Apollo 11 mission from the perspective of 10-year-old Marty, whose father works at the NASA tracking station in Guam, relaying signals to Houston. Marty eagerly follows the mission's progress with a friend, until Marty's father urgently requests his help. An antenna at the tracking station has gotten stuck, and the adults need smaller arms than their own to perform emergency surgery: "Do you think you can do it?" Young's storytelling captures the breathless excitement that surrounded the Apollo 11 voyage, which Miles conveys through cheerful artwork. Readers will wonder how much of the events depicted are true: while the author's note explains that the story is based on a real boy who greased a malfunctioning bearing, further background material is lacking. Ages 7-8. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Marty's Mission is about the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 told through the eyes of Marty, the son of a man managing the NASA Tracking Station in Guam. The time difference does not affect Marty as he stays up to hear about the launch and watch the landing the next day, all while eagerly awaiting to see Apollo 11 return to Earth. After the Tracking Station's bearings become stuck, it's up to Marty to grease them up enough to ensure adequate communication and a safe landing for the astronauts on board. Thankfully, a crisis is averted thanks to Marty. Told with vivid detail and accompanying illustrations, this entertaining story about a young boy's role in space history also gives a good overview of the Apollo 11 moon mission. There are plenty of stories about the men who landed on the moon, but not a lot is written for children about what the time was like back on Earth or even what complications arose during the mission. The artwork portrays the cool evenings, detailed space transmission parts, and stressful mission that Marty has to undertake in order to save the day. VERDICT An excellent purchase for elementary school collections.-Molly Dettmann, Norman North High School, OK © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
