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Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything
A nation in need of hope, the most powerful rocket ever launched, and the first three men to break the bounds of Earth: Apollo 8 was headed to the moon.
In 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, America’s rival in the Cold War claimed victory on a new frontier. The Space Race had begun, and the United States was losing. Closer to home, a decade of turbulence would soon have Americans reeling, with the year 1968 alone seeing the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy as well as many violent clashes between police and protesters. Americans desperately needed something good to believe in, and NASA’s mission to orbit Earth in Apollo 8 and test a lunar landing module was being planned for the end of the year. But with four months to go and the module behind schedule, the CIA discovered that the USSR was preparing to send its own mission around the moon — another crucial victory in the Space Race — and it was clearly time for a change of plan. Martin W. Sandler unfolds an incredible chapter in U.S. Apollo 8 wouldn’t just orbit Earth, it would take American astronauts to see the dark side of the moon.
In 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, America’s rival in the Cold War claimed victory on a new frontier. The Space Race had begun, and the United States was losing. Closer to home, a decade of turbulence would soon have Americans reeling, with the year 1968 alone seeing the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy as well as many violent clashes between police and protesters. Americans desperately needed something good to believe in, and NASA’s mission to orbit Earth in Apollo 8 and test a lunar landing module was being planned for the end of the year. But with four months to go and the module behind schedule, the CIA discovered that the USSR was preparing to send its own mission around the moon — another crucial victory in the Space Race — and it was clearly time for a change of plan. Martin W. Sandler unfolds an incredible chapter in U.S. Apollo 8 wouldn’t just orbit Earth, it would take American astronauts to see the dark side of the moon.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published September 19, 2018
19 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Martin W. Sandler
88 books56 followersMartin W. Sandler has written more than seventy books for children and adults and has written and produced seven television series. He has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and has won multiple Emmy Awards. He lives in Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 4, 2018
It was the Cold War and the battles were being fought in space and Russia was winning.
Step up to the plate, Apollo 8. Set a crazy goal and push up the completion date to something completely unrealistic and let's see what the best and brightest minds in America can do.
And they succeed. In a big way.
It's a story of big and small heroes, of people who work together almost seamlessly, to accomplish the impossible, who send men to the moon and change the way we think about everything.
Step up to the plate, Apollo 8. Set a crazy goal and push up the completion date to something completely unrealistic and let's see what the best and brightest minds in America can do.
And they succeed. In a big way.
It's a story of big and small heroes, of people who work together almost seamlessly, to accomplish the impossible, who send men to the moon and change the way we think about everything.
May 22, 2019
The author does a wonderful job of capturing the race to land a man on the moon, especially in the shadows of the Cold War. The photos, the quotes, the asides, the main text, the back matter all make for the case of adding this title to your collection. And it was definitely fun to relive this exciting time in our nation's history while entranced in the book.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Frank Borman, commander of the flight later wrote: "All of us had flown airplanes many times and seen airfields and buildings getting smaller as we climbed. But now it was the whole globe receding in size, dwindling until it became a disk. We were the first humans to see the world in its majestic totality, an intensely emotional experience for each of us. We said nothing to each other, but I was sure our thoughts were identical - of our families on that spinning globe. And maybe we shared another thought I had....This must be what God sees."
Bill Anders: "What I saw flashing beneath us gave me a sense of real adventure, of exploration. I am sure it must have been the same thrill felt by Lewis and Clark, Byrd, Hillary, and many others as their own goals came into view. To me, and I think to many Americans, there has always been a sense of exploration and a sense of frontier. The Appalachian Trail, the wide Missouri, Antarctica...they were there, and men came to conquer them and benefit from them. Now space is our frontier, and there I was in the lead wagon."
Jim Lovell: "the real friends of the space voyager are the stars." (After an accidental push of the wrong buttons Lovell had to use a sextant and the stars to pilot their reentry into Earth's atmosphere.)
Some of my favorite quotes:
Frank Borman, commander of the flight later wrote: "All of us had flown airplanes many times and seen airfields and buildings getting smaller as we climbed. But now it was the whole globe receding in size, dwindling until it became a disk. We were the first humans to see the world in its majestic totality, an intensely emotional experience for each of us. We said nothing to each other, but I was sure our thoughts were identical - of our families on that spinning globe. And maybe we shared another thought I had....This must be what God sees."
Bill Anders: "What I saw flashing beneath us gave me a sense of real adventure, of exploration. I am sure it must have been the same thrill felt by Lewis and Clark, Byrd, Hillary, and many others as their own goals came into view. To me, and I think to many Americans, there has always been a sense of exploration and a sense of frontier. The Appalachian Trail, the wide Missouri, Antarctica...they were there, and men came to conquer them and benefit from them. Now space is our frontier, and there I was in the lead wagon."
Jim Lovell: "the real friends of the space voyager are the stars." (After an accidental push of the wrong buttons Lovell had to use a sextant and the stars to pilot their reentry into Earth's atmosphere.)
November 26, 2018
A really great book with gorgeous pictures, well-suited to a tween and teen audience. I appreciated the notes on the Vietnam War, the assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK, and the notes from the Association of Atheists, which provided great context for this incredible event.
December 24, 2019
Review of: Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything, by Martin W. Sandler
by Stan Prager (12-24-19)
Astronaut William Anders began: "For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
On Christmas Eve fifty-one years ago, millions in the United States and around the globe—including this then eleven year old boy—gathered breathlessly around their TV’s to watch the first live broadcast from space, an extraordinary transmission beamed back to earth from more than two hundred thousand miles away from an American spacecraft in orbit around the moon. The largest television audience to that date was treated to remarkable photographs of the forbidding moonscape, but far more awe-inspiring and humbling were the images they viewed of their very own living planet, appearing so tiny and so remote from such a great distance. The three astronauts closed out the broadcast by reading passages from the biblical book of Genesis. Lunar Module Pilot Bill Anders was followed by Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and then Commander Frank Borman, who added: "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."
While this episode remains a heartwarming moment that celebrates both the universality of the human endeavor as well as the singularity of this accomplishment, it should not obscure the reality of what was really happening on that blue planet viewed from afar, of the wars and famines and cruelty and disasters that did not take a pause while space travelers read aloud from an ancient book that itself once gave witness to its same share of wars and famines and cruelty and disasters. Nor should it fail to remind us that these representatives of the earth blasted off from a badly fractured landscape at home.
The claim that America on this Christmas Eve of 2019 has never been this divided is at once refuted by a glance back to 1968, replete with acts of terror, campus unrest, cities in flames, mass demonstrations, political assassinations, and violence in the streets—the perfect storm of the increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam and the revolution of rising expectations among long-disenfranchised blacks frustrated by the pace of change. If there was a kind of unifying force that remained to serve as some sort of glue amid the chaos and dissonance of a splintered national polity it had to be the space program and its race for the moon. The actual moon landing was not until the following year, but 1968 closed with the remarkable Apollo 8 mission, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon, made more dramatic by that live Christmas Eve audio-video transmission from space that included those readings from Genesis, and later forever enshrined in our collective consciousness by the iconic photo “Earthrise” that depicts the earth rising over the moon’s horizon, snapped by astronaut Bill Anders, that is said to have inspired the environmental movement.
Martin W. Sandler revisits this existential moment that briefly comforted a troubled nation with the oversize and lavishly illustrated Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything, directed at a young adult (YA) audience but suitable for all. I have read and reviewed Sandler before. The author has a talent for clear, concise writing that while targeting a younger readership does not dumb-down the topic, an otherwise frequent tarnish to this genre of nonfiction. I obtained this book as part of an Early Reviewer program and my copy was an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) with black and white images, but the published edition is full-color and worth the purchase if only for the magnificent full color photographs, though these are nicely enhanced by a well-written narrative that encompasses the totality of this highly significant space mission and its ramifications back home. The only caution I would add is that I have detected glaring historical errors in some of Sandler’s other works. I did not stumble upon any here, but then I am hardly an expert on the space program. Thus, the reader should trust but verify!
Some—at the time and since—have objected to the astronauts’ choice of verses from Genesis, as if there was an attempt to impose religion from the beyond, or to celebrate the Judeo-Christian experience at the expense of others. We should not be so hard on them; they were simply seeking some kind of universal message to inspire us all. That they may have failed to please everyone may only underscore how diverse we are even as we transcend the myth of race to acknowledge that we all share the very same DNA, the same hopes and dreams and fears and needs and especially the desire to love and be loved. Astronaut Bill Landers himself returned from space as an atheist, awed by his place in the vast universe. I am not a religious person: I celebrate Christmas as a time for peace and love and Santa Claus. But I can still, like the astronauts on Apollo 8 fifty-one years ago, wish my readers a good night, good luck, and a Merry Christmas to all of you on the good Earth.
The broadcast from space: https://youtu.be/XEmn0uaQCYc
Review of: Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything, by Martin W. Sandler https://regarp.com/2019/12/24/review-...
by Stan Prager (12-24-19)
Astronaut William Anders began: "For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
On Christmas Eve fifty-one years ago, millions in the United States and around the globe—including this then eleven year old boy—gathered breathlessly around their TV’s to watch the first live broadcast from space, an extraordinary transmission beamed back to earth from more than two hundred thousand miles away from an American spacecraft in orbit around the moon. The largest television audience to that date was treated to remarkable photographs of the forbidding moonscape, but far more awe-inspiring and humbling were the images they viewed of their very own living planet, appearing so tiny and so remote from such a great distance. The three astronauts closed out the broadcast by reading passages from the biblical book of Genesis. Lunar Module Pilot Bill Anders was followed by Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and then Commander Frank Borman, who added: "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."
While this episode remains a heartwarming moment that celebrates both the universality of the human endeavor as well as the singularity of this accomplishment, it should not obscure the reality of what was really happening on that blue planet viewed from afar, of the wars and famines and cruelty and disasters that did not take a pause while space travelers read aloud from an ancient book that itself once gave witness to its same share of wars and famines and cruelty and disasters. Nor should it fail to remind us that these representatives of the earth blasted off from a badly fractured landscape at home.
The claim that America on this Christmas Eve of 2019 has never been this divided is at once refuted by a glance back to 1968, replete with acts of terror, campus unrest, cities in flames, mass demonstrations, political assassinations, and violence in the streets—the perfect storm of the increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam and the revolution of rising expectations among long-disenfranchised blacks frustrated by the pace of change. If there was a kind of unifying force that remained to serve as some sort of glue amid the chaos and dissonance of a splintered national polity it had to be the space program and its race for the moon. The actual moon landing was not until the following year, but 1968 closed with the remarkable Apollo 8 mission, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon, made more dramatic by that live Christmas Eve audio-video transmission from space that included those readings from Genesis, and later forever enshrined in our collective consciousness by the iconic photo “Earthrise” that depicts the earth rising over the moon’s horizon, snapped by astronaut Bill Anders, that is said to have inspired the environmental movement.
Martin W. Sandler revisits this existential moment that briefly comforted a troubled nation with the oversize and lavishly illustrated Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything, directed at a young adult (YA) audience but suitable for all. I have read and reviewed Sandler before. The author has a talent for clear, concise writing that while targeting a younger readership does not dumb-down the topic, an otherwise frequent tarnish to this genre of nonfiction. I obtained this book as part of an Early Reviewer program and my copy was an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) with black and white images, but the published edition is full-color and worth the purchase if only for the magnificent full color photographs, though these are nicely enhanced by a well-written narrative that encompasses the totality of this highly significant space mission and its ramifications back home. The only caution I would add is that I have detected glaring historical errors in some of Sandler’s other works. I did not stumble upon any here, but then I am hardly an expert on the space program. Thus, the reader should trust but verify!
Some—at the time and since—have objected to the astronauts’ choice of verses from Genesis, as if there was an attempt to impose religion from the beyond, or to celebrate the Judeo-Christian experience at the expense of others. We should not be so hard on them; they were simply seeking some kind of universal message to inspire us all. That they may have failed to please everyone may only underscore how diverse we are even as we transcend the myth of race to acknowledge that we all share the very same DNA, the same hopes and dreams and fears and needs and especially the desire to love and be loved. Astronaut Bill Landers himself returned from space as an atheist, awed by his place in the vast universe. I am not a religious person: I celebrate Christmas as a time for peace and love and Santa Claus. But I can still, like the astronauts on Apollo 8 fifty-one years ago, wish my readers a good night, good luck, and a Merry Christmas to all of you on the good Earth.
The broadcast from space: https://youtu.be/XEmn0uaQCYc
Review of: Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything, by Martin W. Sandler https://regarp.com/2019/12/24/review-...
July 13, 2018
Wonderful book I got from the publisher through LibraryThing. Accessible to a younger audience, it still has plenty to offer adult readers. I was born in 1961 and like many young (and older) Americans in the 1960s, was enthralled by the "Space Race", and especially the Apollo Program and the moon landings. Despite that fascination, I knew little - and I suspect most others also know little - about Apollo 8; it just isn't as sexy as Armstrong and Aldrin's Apollo 11 triumph.
But it really is.
Sandler tells the little told story with depth, feeling, and little details that really highlight why this mission was so unique. One example: the launch of the Saturn V was something no one had experienced...and couldn't anticipate. Bill Anders recalled "being thrown around. I mean, 'thrown around' is the best way I can describe it. I felt like a rat in the jaws of a giant terrier. I mean, here we'd hardly started, and already we had something that we hadn't simulated."
The mission had live telecasts and viewers on Earth got live pictures of the Earth as a globe. Sorry flat-earthers...science wins. Earthwise is one of the most famous photographs, and was taken by Bill Anders. The crew had "real" food for their Christmas Day meal, a surprise from Director of Flight Operations Deke Slayton. (He even slipped in three small bottles of brandy, but mission commander Borman would not allow the crew to drink it so that if anything happened it couldn't be blamed on alcohol.) Lots of little nuggets like this peppered throughout.
Sandler also spaces short sidebar background and histories throughout the book (see my note below on that), expanding the scope of the story to highlight rocketry history, the people behind the mission, naming of the moon features, what was happening at the time, even a segment on Madalyn Murray O'Hair. There are stealth cites (see another note below) and a good bibliography to accompany the text.
A few notes about the presentation:
- My Advance Reading Copy was soft bound and gray scale (note on the cover said the final book would be in full color). The photographs looked great, and I'd like to see them in color.
- I like the sidebar sections, but not the placement. I'm reading a sentence (already three lines) at the bottom of page 11 and turn to page 12 to find ... not the rest of the sentence but four pages on the Pioneers of Rocketry and one more full page photograph before continuing the final two lines. Too big a gap. A few of the interludes suffered from poor placement.
- Some word choices could be better.
Page 24, Sandler is talking about the events of 1968 and picks a few things about the US involvement in Vietnam, leading with
Page 71, Sandler actually said "As Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and Jim Lovell became the first humans to see the dark side of the moon, {...}" Dark! Now he called it "far" side, and "back" side in other places, but "dark" at least twice. Stop perpetuating that misrepresentation!
- I say this often, but I am not a fan of end notes not cited in the text. I know authors (or editors?) don't want to interrupt the flow with superscripts, and I should be happy that there are citations at all, but I prefer jumping off and back to reaching them at the end and having only a page number and partial quote to tell me that there was some source.
This is a great story told simply. Recommended.
But it really is.
Sandler tells the little told story with depth, feeling, and little details that really highlight why this mission was so unique. One example: the launch of the Saturn V was something no one had experienced...and couldn't anticipate. Bill Anders recalled "being thrown around. I mean, 'thrown around' is the best way I can describe it. I felt like a rat in the jaws of a giant terrier. I mean, here we'd hardly started, and already we had something that we hadn't simulated."
The mission had live telecasts and viewers on Earth got live pictures of the Earth as a globe. Sorry flat-earthers...science wins. Earthwise is one of the most famous photographs, and was taken by Bill Anders. The crew had "real" food for their Christmas Day meal, a surprise from Director of Flight Operations Deke Slayton. (He even slipped in three small bottles of brandy, but mission commander Borman would not allow the crew to drink it so that if anything happened it couldn't be blamed on alcohol.) Lots of little nuggets like this peppered throughout.
Sandler also spaces short sidebar background and histories throughout the book (see my note below on that), expanding the scope of the story to highlight rocketry history, the people behind the mission, naming of the moon features, what was happening at the time, even a segment on Madalyn Murray O'Hair. There are stealth cites (see another note below) and a good bibliography to accompany the text.
A few notes about the presentation:
- My Advance Reading Copy was soft bound and gray scale (note on the cover said the final book would be in full color). The photographs looked great, and I'd like to see them in color.
- I like the sidebar sections, but not the placement. I'm reading a sentence (already three lines) at the bottom of page 11 and turn to page 12 to find ... not the rest of the sentence but four pages on the Pioneers of Rocketry and one more full page photograph before continuing the final two lines. Too big a gap. A few of the interludes suffered from poor placement.
- Some word choices could be better.
Page 24, Sandler is talking about the events of 1968 and picks a few things about the US involvement in Vietnam, leading with
In 1954, the Veitnamese peninsula had been divided, with a communist regime in the North and a democratic government in the South.The italics are mine. Those words are problematic because they are deliberately polarizing in framing the situation from a justification perspective that younger readers might not see through.
Page 71, Sandler actually said "As Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and Jim Lovell became the first humans to see the dark side of the moon, {...}" Dark! Now he called it "far" side, and "back" side in other places, but "dark" at least twice. Stop perpetuating that misrepresentation!
- I say this often, but I am not a fan of end notes not cited in the text. I know authors (or editors?) don't want to interrupt the flow with superscripts, and I should be happy that there are citations at all, but I prefer jumping off and back to reaching them at the end and having only a page number and partial quote to tell me that there was some source.
This is a great story told simply. Recommended.
February 18, 2019
This book includes all the elements that make up S.T.E.A.M. education!
Science: Astronomy, Physics, Rocket Science, Geology, etc.
Technology: Computer Science, etc.
Engineering: Rocket and Space Module Design, etc.
Arts: Photography
Mathematics: Many types
Beginning with President John F. Kennedy's 'space race' speech before Congress on May 25, 1961, this book provides a thorough history of what was happening in America and around the globe in the 1950s and 1960s. It also includes a detailed history of space travel and rocket science. Biographies of space pioneers in the areas of engineering, rocketry, and space travel are included.
A narrative about what had happened in the United States in 1968 with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Tet Offensive in South Vietnam which killed four thousand American soldiers; and the violence betweeen protesters and law enforcement at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago stresses the traumas and tragedies the American people had suffered throughout this tubulent year.
These events set the foundation for readers to understand the importance and urgency of the Apollo 8 flight in late December, 1968. The Apollo 8 flight would be different from any other American or Russian manned spaceflights. It would be launched by the largest, most powerful rocket ever designed--Saturn V--and would attempt to become the first flight to allow humans to break free from Earth's force and head for the moon.
Readers are treated to a blow-by-blow chronology of the pre-flight, flight, and post-flight happenings for the Apollo 8 mission. In the 'Epilogue', the author gives an update of the American space program following this historic mission.
The back matter includes a very interesting section entitled, 'Life After Apollo 8', where portraits of the three crew members of Apollo 8 are presented along with their accomplishments after the space flight. Other back matter elements include: 'Source Notes', 'Bibliography', 'Index', and 'Acknowledgments'.
A highlight of the book for me was the stunning array of astonishing photographs taken by the crew members of Apollo 8 when they were in flight. The black & white and color photographs of the earth and the moon are spectacular! Most of them were shots I had never seen before. Even after I finished reading the book I looked at the photographs several more times. Wow!
There is a wide assortment of photos which young readers will find interesting and inspiring. Close-ups of the Saturn V rocket; interior and exterior shots of the Apollo 8 unit and the flight simulator used by the astronauts for training; in-flight photos of the astronauts; and color photos of the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii.
The book contains a lot of technical information and higher-level vocabulary and thinking skills, so I feel it may be more appropriate for upper middle-grade students.
Highly-recommended for readers of all ages who are fans of rocketry, space travel, US history, US space travel history, astronauts, astronomy, and photography!
---------------
I borrowed this book from the local public library.
The book is completely clean in language and content. :0}
#######################
Science: Astronomy, Physics, Rocket Science, Geology, etc.
Technology: Computer Science, etc.
Engineering: Rocket and Space Module Design, etc.
Arts: Photography
Mathematics: Many types
Beginning with President John F. Kennedy's 'space race' speech before Congress on May 25, 1961, this book provides a thorough history of what was happening in America and around the globe in the 1950s and 1960s. It also includes a detailed history of space travel and rocket science. Biographies of space pioneers in the areas of engineering, rocketry, and space travel are included.
A narrative about what had happened in the United States in 1968 with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Tet Offensive in South Vietnam which killed four thousand American soldiers; and the violence betweeen protesters and law enforcement at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago stresses the traumas and tragedies the American people had suffered throughout this tubulent year.
These events set the foundation for readers to understand the importance and urgency of the Apollo 8 flight in late December, 1968. The Apollo 8 flight would be different from any other American or Russian manned spaceflights. It would be launched by the largest, most powerful rocket ever designed--Saturn V--and would attempt to become the first flight to allow humans to break free from Earth's force and head for the moon.
Readers are treated to a blow-by-blow chronology of the pre-flight, flight, and post-flight happenings for the Apollo 8 mission. In the 'Epilogue', the author gives an update of the American space program following this historic mission.
The back matter includes a very interesting section entitled, 'Life After Apollo 8', where portraits of the three crew members of Apollo 8 are presented along with their accomplishments after the space flight. Other back matter elements include: 'Source Notes', 'Bibliography', 'Index', and 'Acknowledgments'.
A highlight of the book for me was the stunning array of astonishing photographs taken by the crew members of Apollo 8 when they were in flight. The black & white and color photographs of the earth and the moon are spectacular! Most of them were shots I had never seen before. Even after I finished reading the book I looked at the photographs several more times. Wow!
There is a wide assortment of photos which young readers will find interesting and inspiring. Close-ups of the Saturn V rocket; interior and exterior shots of the Apollo 8 unit and the flight simulator used by the astronauts for training; in-flight photos of the astronauts; and color photos of the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii.
The book contains a lot of technical information and higher-level vocabulary and thinking skills, so I feel it may be more appropriate for upper middle-grade students.
Highly-recommended for readers of all ages who are fans of rocketry, space travel, US history, US space travel history, astronauts, astronomy, and photography!
---------------
I borrowed this book from the local public library.
The book is completely clean in language and content. :0}
#######################
October 16, 2018
I knew I would be interested in this story but I was unprepared for how much I would be engaged by it nor how much it would make me reflect on our current times.
Apollo 8 WAS a mission that changed everything in terms of how the people of Earth saw their planet. As the years have passed and the deeply dramatic events of following missions claimed headlines and history, I think this mission has faded in many people's minds - mine included! Space flight has all been within my lifetime and I have clear strong memories of listening to or watching reports as the missions happened. Sometimes we stopped class to listen to the reports come in over the building loud speaker. Sometimes it was at home in front of our TV. Sandler gave my brain a nudge and I do remember this and I especially remember the iconic photograph, Earthrise.
What Sandler does so well here is provide the background for what made this flight so important at the time, its place both in the progression of the space program and its important place in history. Taking readers step by step through the accounts of the flight as experienced by its crew and the viewers at home, the story takes on an immediacy and a tension that drives the story. I really respect Sandler's ability to provide the complicated cultural context that made the mission so special and the scientific and engineering details that were also so pivotal to the overall program. It is a fascinating account and wonderfully written and documented. As always with Candlewick, the book design and production is outstanding and of special note are the wonderful historic photographs so perfectly presented.
For me as an adult reader however my most deeply felt response to the story is sadness. This historic understanding of the Earth as a fragile thing sailing alone in a vast black space was a global understanding and the impetus for struggling environmental efforts. There was a real sense of unity, as citizens of the planet, "as riders on the Earth together." The stark contrast of that understanding is today's nationalism, our dismissal of a compassionate regard for others and the brutal dismantling of the small gains that had been made in protecting the health and future of this world. I hope with all my heart that this book is read by young readers everywhere and that it helps to rekindle a new effort by a new generation whose lives and future resides on this beautiful but troubled world that soars through the night sky.
Apollo 8 WAS a mission that changed everything in terms of how the people of Earth saw their planet. As the years have passed and the deeply dramatic events of following missions claimed headlines and history, I think this mission has faded in many people's minds - mine included! Space flight has all been within my lifetime and I have clear strong memories of listening to or watching reports as the missions happened. Sometimes we stopped class to listen to the reports come in over the building loud speaker. Sometimes it was at home in front of our TV. Sandler gave my brain a nudge and I do remember this and I especially remember the iconic photograph, Earthrise.
What Sandler does so well here is provide the background for what made this flight so important at the time, its place both in the progression of the space program and its important place in history. Taking readers step by step through the accounts of the flight as experienced by its crew and the viewers at home, the story takes on an immediacy and a tension that drives the story. I really respect Sandler's ability to provide the complicated cultural context that made the mission so special and the scientific and engineering details that were also so pivotal to the overall program. It is a fascinating account and wonderfully written and documented. As always with Candlewick, the book design and production is outstanding and of special note are the wonderful historic photographs so perfectly presented.
For me as an adult reader however my most deeply felt response to the story is sadness. This historic understanding of the Earth as a fragile thing sailing alone in a vast black space was a global understanding and the impetus for struggling environmental efforts. There was a real sense of unity, as citizens of the planet, "as riders on the Earth together." The stark contrast of that understanding is today's nationalism, our dismissal of a compassionate regard for others and the brutal dismantling of the small gains that had been made in protecting the health and future of this world. I hope with all my heart that this book is read by young readers everywhere and that it helps to rekindle a new effort by a new generation whose lives and future resides on this beautiful but troubled world that soars through the night sky.
October 16, 2018
The Apollo 8 mission was the first space mission to orbit the moon. It produced the image Earthrise, which shows an image of Earth from space and is one of the most famous photographs of all time. This nonfiction book is the thrilling story of the space race from 1957 - 1968 leading up to the Apollo 8 mission and the time directly afterward. It includes beautiful archival photographs and an attractive layout with large black "night sky of the moon" pages to start each chapter. The text is written in chronological order and includes quotes from all the individuals involved in NASA at the time. Readers will learn about the controversies, the challenges and the successes associated with the Apollo 8 mission. The mission itself is written in great detail going so far as to list the astronauts' Christmas dinner menu, as well as the fact that they declined to drink the brandy that was included with the meal for fear of making a mistake and having it blamed on the alcohol. The details and the excellent photographs are what make this book special. Reading the astronauts wax poetic about the beauty of seeing the moon and Earth from outer space is probably my favorite part of the book. That same sense of amazement was shared by millions of people back on Earth as they watched on their televisions.
This is an essential purchase for middle and high schools. From the clever, attractive cover to the fully explored impact of the Earthrise photograph to the perfectly chosen archival photographs throughout, this is a very well done nonfiction book. It will be an excellent choice for research projects, but also for independent reading.
Space enthusiasts will love this book!
The gray pages with additional material were interesting (one is about Werner Von Braun and another is about other photographs that have changed the world), but they interrupted the main text in a way that was sometimes confusing. I think they would have been better formatted as smaller offset sections instead of the 2 - 3 page sections they were. I worry that some students might be confused.
This is an essential purchase for middle and high schools. From the clever, attractive cover to the fully explored impact of the Earthrise photograph to the perfectly chosen archival photographs throughout, this is a very well done nonfiction book. It will be an excellent choice for research projects, but also for independent reading.
Space enthusiasts will love this book!
The gray pages with additional material were interesting (one is about Werner Von Braun and another is about other photographs that have changed the world), but they interrupted the main text in a way that was sometimes confusing. I think they would have been better formatted as smaller offset sections instead of the 2 - 3 page sections they were. I worry that some students might be confused.
December 18, 2018
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.
June 3, 2018
Having come off of reading To the Moon! about the Apollo 8 space mission and then seeing this one, I prefer To the Moon! for it's storytelling/narrative nonfiction, but like Sandler's informational nonfiction for it's straightforwardness and research. I learned a few things new in this one that wasn't in the other and likewise things not in this one that were in the other.
The organization is well-done and the inserted stories and biographies enhance the story. This one touched more on the Soviet Union's own space program and I was stunned by the content of how the Soviet Union used (and abused) it's engineers and innovators. Likewise, this includes more photos that provide a vivid imagery of life in space and how immense this trip was. A fabulous addition!
The organization is well-done and the inserted stories and biographies enhance the story. This one touched more on the Soviet Union's own space program and I was stunned by the content of how the Soviet Union used (and abused) it's engineers and innovators. Likewise, this includes more photos that provide a vivid imagery of life in space and how immense this trip was. A fabulous addition!
September 24, 2018
Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy. I had no idea that there were so many books about Apollo 8. Fortunately, I remember it very well, but was still surprised at the number of things this book brought out. We were visiting relatives in California that Christmas Eve, and I was so appreciative that Sandler went in to detail about that part in particular. It will help younger readers that he gives a lot of context to historical events that set the backdrop, although there were a few times that I thought the details went a bit far in a tangent (like the history of photography and the Civil War). This was a quick read sure to interest students, and gives enough detail about the complexity of the mission without overdoing it.
October 4, 2018
I got this book from LibraryThing's Early Review program, in exchange for an honest review. I am a science/space geek and love all things Apollo. So, even though I am very familiar with the Apollo program, I was excited to get one specifically focused on Apollo 8.
It's a good book, but sadly, I am not the target audience for it. Its aimed at middle school kids. Its large format book with lots of pictures and a good basic overview of the first Apollo mission to go to the moon.
If you have a 10-13 year old space fanatic, this would be a good book to get, but for me, not so much. Nothing here that I didn't really already know.
7/10 (for the target audience. Probably a 5/10 for me)
S: 8/11/18 - 8/19/18 (8 Days)
It's a good book, but sadly, I am not the target audience for it. Its aimed at middle school kids. Its large format book with lots of pictures and a good basic overview of the first Apollo mission to go to the moon.
If you have a 10-13 year old space fanatic, this would be a good book to get, but for me, not so much. Nothing here that I didn't really already know.
7/10 (for the target audience. Probably a 5/10 for me)
S: 8/11/18 - 8/19/18 (8 Days)
August 13, 2018
This was interesting. I had forgotten how shocked people in the US were when the Soviets actually made it into space before them! I was a very little girl, but remember the fear it caused in otherwise rational adults around me. Strange days... Anyway,this well written and well researched book delves into those dark days and how it really jump started our space program to put man on the moon before the Russians.. It's an amazing story anyone unfamiliar with should read. The photos in the book were really great! I,loved the shots of the moon and it was nice to see all the astronauts and ships.
I received a Kindle ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received a Kindle ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
January 30, 2019
I was a kid when NASA was putting rockets together and blasting them off to the moon. I also didn't live in the United States in 1968, so I don't remember being aware of the first manned trip to orbit the moon in Apollo 8. I found this book to be an excellent summary of the program and this particular mission, but also how inspiring it was to mankind.
This is the second book I've read by this author, Martin Sandler, and I have found his writing to be just excellent both times. It can't be easy to write nonfiction for children and teens and make it both interesting and stimulating at the same time.
This is the second book I've read by this author, Martin Sandler, and I have found his writing to be just excellent both times. It can't be easy to write nonfiction for children and teens and make it both interesting and stimulating at the same time.
February 16, 2019
This was super interesting and I really enjoyed learning more about the lunar missions. I listened to this one, and maybe would have been happier with a hard-copy but it was still informative and worthwhile.
August 8, 2019
Beautiful book for teen readers interested in space travel. The writing is absorbing and great to read. The photographs are beautifully reproduced. Earthrise is the most famous photograph of the Earth. The story of how that photograph was taken is fascinating.
February 27, 2020
Lovely book and great fun to read, with large astonishing photographs of space, the moon and the earth along with a gripping description of the journey to the moon and back, and what it meant for the astronauts, the space program, America, the world, and science.
Read
December 21, 2020Think history isn't exciting? Then you haven't read Apollo 8. Despite its heft (270+ pages) our five (!) teen reviewers said it was beyond interesting - captivating, incredible, amazing! Praise doesn't get much higher than that!!
March 10, 2019
A thorough account of a groundbreaking space flight and its context, with a very timely message: we are all riders on the earth together. Can’t wait to share this with my older students.
April 2, 2019
Easy to read for kids, but good info.
May 11, 2019
Excellent. An important precursor to the moon landing. Dramatic and inspiring.
July 13, 2019
Very few women mentioned.
June 4, 2020
Great overview of the first space mission to circle the moon. It was pretty awesome to see the picture of Earthrise after reading about their journey.
February 7, 2021
Good book. Lots of details about the Apollo 8 mission. Lots of pictures...always like picture. Good coffee table book. A quick read.
Want to read
July 16, 2018Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
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