Neil Armstrong and Nat Love, Space Cowboys (Time Twisters, #3) by Steve Sheinkin
Published by Roaring Brook Press on June 25th 2019
ISBN: 1250148979
Pages: 176
Goodreads

Steve Sheinkin, nonfiction author extraordinaire, has a new humorous yet informative fiction series Time Twisters.  Neil Armstrong and Nat Love, Space Cowboys is the third novel following siblings Doc and Abby who have discovered a time portal in the school library connecting them to Abe Lincoln.  Frustrated that kids dreaded learning about history, Abe decided to mix things up, historically speaking, and suddenly text books across America are showing so many changes that history teachers are scratching their heads!  This time Texan cowboy Nat Love from 1869 meets astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. The cowboy is naturally baffled by the modern technology of a space shuttle landing on the grange and Doc and Abe quickly transport themselves to try to help.  It almost works out except Nat gets on the shuttle and Buzz gets left behind. The kids, Abe and Buzz race back to NASA while Buzz and Nat land on the moon. As the Columbia comes back to earth, Buzz and Nat sneakily switch places and with the help of the kids, Nat gets back to his own time.  Textbooks return to normal…until the next time Abe gets restless! An “Un-twisting History” chapter at the end of the book explains what was real in the story. This is a quirky and funny read with short chapters, black and white cartooning throughout and a highly interesting take on reading a biography.  This series would make for great read-alouds.  

Grades 3 and up.  

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook