A powerful narrative of an awe-inspiring event.
A detailed account of the Apollo 13 space mission.
This book brings to life the period of uncertainty surrounding the return of Apollo 13 by taking readers step by step through the astronauts’ journey, the efforts of the Mission Control team in Houston to bring them home safely, and the anticipation of family members and the entire world as they watched and waited to see if things would worsen or if the astronauts would be saved. Chapter 1 sets the scene with the explosion in space that compromised the mission; Chapter 2 explains the context of the space race and previous successful projects; and chapters 3 through 8 return to the situation on Apollo 13, describing in detail the moments until it landed on Earth and the astronauts were reunited with loved ones. Final chapters profile space travel after Apollo 13 and its legacy. Historical photographs throughout enhance the text. Readers will need to pay close attention in order to follow all of the challenges the astronauts faced and the actions they had to take, but most major dangers are clear, such as the integrity of the heat shield and the availability of oxygen and water. The high stakes make this quite a page-turner. Some readers will skim over technical terms; others will devour every detail.
A powerful narrative of an awe-inspiring event. (timeline, glossary, source notes, selected bibliography, further reading, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 13-18)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-5900-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Nothing new or revelatory here, but the book can serve as a good introduction to Jobs and will impress with its concision...
A free-wheeling graphic biography of Steve Jobs.
The late visionary behind Apple and Pixar lent himself to caricature, and illustrator Hartland (Bon Appétit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child, 2012, etc.) takes full advantage. Her inspirational version of the “insanely great” Jobs is a misfit who refused to follow the rules or play well with others, who was as rebellious as he was smart. Eventually becoming one of the richest men in the world, he followed a spiritual path of asceticism, looking for gurus, seeking a purer truth than can be found in material possessions. Yet he showed a remarkable lack of compassion and empathy toward his associates and was forced out of the Apple he had founded because others considered him so difficult. He wasn’t the computer whiz that his early collaborator Steve Wozniak was, but the marketing acumen of his passion for design and simplicity proved equally crucial in Apple’s transformation of the personal computer from a hobbyist pursuit into a paradigm-shifting commercial product. “Woz is the engineering genius,” the author writes in a kid’s scrawl that matches the rough-hewn illustrations. “Steve is the salesman with the big picture.” As she later quotes her subject, who saw Apple prosper beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, “I don’t think it would have happened without Woz and I don’t think it would have happened without me.” Recognizing his own deficiencies, Jobs recruited Pepsi’s John Sculley to run the company: “While Steve knows himself to be quirky, tactless, confrontational, and insensitive, he knows Sculley is polite, polished, and easygoing”—though inevitably, there was a power struggle between the two. The narrative somehow squeezes Jobs’ important innovations—the iMac, the music empire of iPods and iTunes, the smartphone revolution, the iPad—into a breezy narrative that engages and entertains.
Nothing new or revelatory here, but the book can serve as a good introduction to Jobs and will impress with its concision those who already know a lot about him.Pub Date: July 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-307-98295-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A vanity project that's for fans only.
A popular YouTuber releases her memoir.
Jenn McAllister, better known as Jennxpenn, details her ascent to Internet stardom and her personal struggles with bullying and anxiety. The book flips between prose chapters and lists, such as "Top 10 Things Middle Schoolers Worry About That They Shouldn't" and "Top 10 Best Pieces of Advice I've Ever Received." Unfortunately neither really pops. The lists are serviceable distractions filled with boilerplate platitudes (“Know It’s Not About You”; “Nobody’s in Charge of Your Happiness Except You”). McAllister's recounting of her own life starts interestingly enough (although her "bullying" is pretty tame, mostly name-calling that most children endure) but quickly loses narrative urgency or comedic charm. The book is filled with pictures as well, but there aren't any captions, so those who aren't familiar with YouTube culture won't know whom these people are or what the point of the picture's placement is. This lack of context feeds into the book's largest problem: anyone not familiar with Jennxpenn and her cohorts is left completely behind. The author describes her burgeoning channel competently enough early on, but once she makes it big, the narrative devolves into a listing of accomplishments and experiences that don't lead into one another in any way or provide much meaning to those curious about YouTubers but not particularly familiar with them.
A vanity project that's for fans only. (Memoir. 13-17)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-86112-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2015
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