Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything by Martin W. Sandler
Published by Candlewick Press on September 19th 2018
ISBN: 0763694894
Pages: 176
Format: Nonfiction
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Full of color and black and white images along with glossy pages, this nonfiction book offers an historical glimpse at the successful launch that put the United States at the front of the space race in the late 1960s.  The book begins with a look at the engineering evolution of rocket launches dating as far back as the 1920s and the creation of NASA in Huntsville, Alabama in 1958. Focusing on the three astronauts, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, as pioneers and daredevils helps explain just how uncharted and dangerous this mission was.  Interviews with the wives of these pilots gave a unique perspective as to what an impact this space program had both on the nation and at a personal level. The layout is at times problematic with inserted articles interrupting the flow of the chapter’s body of text. It can be several pages before you can pick up with the writing. This is a better fit for a high school nonfiction collection due to complex text and historical references that are not often taught at the middle school level.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook