Crisis in Space: Apollo 13 (High Interest Books) [Paperback]

Mark Beyer (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: High Interest Books

Every so often people encounter incredible situations that only the most courageous individuals can triumph over. The books in this series celebrate the human spirit and provide the true stories of people who faced impossible conditions and survived.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-4-Beyer cranks up the suspense in this terse account of the ill-fated Apollo mission, setting the stage with a look at its ominous numerology (it was the 13th mission in the program, set to take off at 13:13 military time, etc.) and unsettlingly sudden crew changes. He describes the crippling midflight explosion and each challenge that had to be met to get that crew safely home. The short sentences, specific but not heavily technical detail, and vivid language-the astronauts "had 15 minutes to get Aquarius up and running before Odyssey shut down and died. They knew their spacecraft would become their coffin if they didn't make every second count"-will keep both underachieving and younger readers riveted. The small, dark, sometimes blurry black-and-white and color photos are no asset, but at least some of the three books and four Web sites listed at the end may lead to better visuals. Point readers who develop an interest in extraterrestrial disasters from this episode to Michael Cole's Space Emergency: Astronauts in Danger (Enslow, 2000) or any of the plethora of titles on the Challenger tragedy.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Mark Beyer is the author of several nonfiction books for children.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Children's Press (CT) (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0516234854
• ISBN-13: 978-0516234854
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent book but not exactly exciting, October 1, 2011

By 

Nicola Manning (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crisis in Space: Apollo 13 (High Interest Books) (Paperback)

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!