Apollo 13 Mission: Core Events of a Crisis In Space.

Radomski, Kassandra.  Apollo 13 Mission: Core Events of a Crisis In Space.  Capstone Publishers  2014  32p  $26.65  ISBN 978-1-4765-4181-5  ms  series: What Went Wrong?  Nonfiction  VG-BNS

This short book accurately depicts the flight of Apollo 13 and its problems, solutions, and safe return to Earth along with the three astronauts--Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise.  The book provides succinct information about the mission, the launch, what went wrong, the details of the problem, its resolution, and the successful return to Earth.

Kassandra Radomski has gathered authentic information and compressed it into a book that is easily understood by young readers.  A lower reading level, combined with concise explanations and photographs, will not intimidate young readers, but rather increase their sense of inquiry and rigor.  Readers will be fully engaged as they piece together the mission, its dangers, and the successful resolution of the mission’s problems.  The graphics and full-color photographs make the book visually appealing and clarify and validate the text. Captioned illustrations and “Did You Know?” boxes add excitement to the text and enhance concepts.

The book includes a table of contents, a glossary, additional information pages, Common Core uses, and an index, which also makes this a very good resource for research.

This is one book in the What Went Wrong? series.  Other titles included in this series are: The Hindenburg Explosion, The Johnstown Flood, and The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Summary: Describes the fate of Apollo 13 and provides details as to the problems the spacecraft encountered, what the astronauts did to circumvent the problem, and their safe return to Earth.          

Apollo 13                                       --Virginia McGarvey