Description
*Junior Library Guild Selection 2017*
A unanimous selection to the 2018 Maverick Graphic Novel List!
This graphic retelling of the Apollo 11 moon-landing mission follows astronaut Michael Collins, commander of the lunar orbiter, to the far side of the moon.
When the Earth disappears behind the moon, Collins loses contact with his fellow astronauts on the moon’s surface, with mission control at NASA, and with the entire human race, becoming more alone than any human being has ever been before. In total isolation for 21 hours, Collins awaits word that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have managed to launch their moon lander successfully to return to the orbiter—a feat never accomplished before and rendered more problematic by the fuel burn of their difficult landing. In this singularly lonely and dramatic setting, Collins reviews the politics, science, and engineering that propelled the Apollo 11 mission across 239,000 miles of space to the moon.
Fountas & Pinnell Level U
Reviews
"While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are household names, “the only thing most people know about Michael Collins is that he didn’t get to walk on the moon.” Irvine and Bishop aim to remedy that with this graphic biography, which traces Collins’s upbringing and NASA career through his selection for the Apollo 11 mission and his life afterward. Bishop works in a rough, schematic style, and his liberal use of swaths of black, accented with violet, makes the vastness of space felt in nearly every panel." — PW
"
The Far Side of the Moon is a black-and-white nonfiction graphic novel about astronaut Michael Collins and the historic Apollo 11 moon-landing mission of 1969. The stark, visually striking artwork captures the loneliness and dangers of space travel. Readers of all ages will find The Far Side of the Moon a captivating and inspirational true story not only of scientific history, but also of human fortitude and ingenuity.
Highly recommended, especially for high school and public library graphic novel collections.
" — Library Bookwatch