The ill-fated life of astronaut Virgil ``Gus'' Grissom is recounted in this latest entry to the Countdown to Space series aimed at less proficient readers. One of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, Grissom's mission- -the second space shot, following Alan Shepard—ended on a shocking note when the door to his one-man capsule blew off prematurely, nearly drowning Grissom during recovery. Later, as the first astronaut to pilot the two-passenger Gemini spacecraft (the Molly Brown), Grissom found glory. The sky no longer seemed the limit when Grissom was named to the crew of Apollo 1; his death, with his two crewmates, in a fire that swept through the command capsule, set the program back for years, forcing NASA to initiate more efficient safety measures. By including plenty of quotes from Grissom and his wife in the narrative, Bredeson adds immediacy and warmth to this history of one of the US's first space travelers— the men who self-deprecatingly referred to themselves as ``spam in a can.'' (b&w photos, not seen, chronology, notes, glossary, further reading, index) (Biography. 9-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-89490-974-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Enslow
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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BOOK REVIEW
A riveting novel that will have readers rooting for its star.
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A teenager faces seemingly insurmountable challenges in this riveting modern-day spinoff of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
For Ana Dakkar and her fellow ninth graders at Harding-Pencroft Academy, there is nothing more momentous than the weekend trials each student must ace at the end of freshman year. Students who fail to showcase their survival skills are asked to leave the academy, a heavily guarded place Ana has thought of as home since the mysterious deaths of her parents. Though Ana’s brother, Dev, is a senior, what happens at trials is such a closely guarded secret that no one in her year knows what to expect. While her group is out on the water for their trials, Harding-Pencroft is demolished in an attack orchestrated by a rival school. As Ana and her classmates discover that the events depicted in Jules Verne’s classic novels were real, Riordan’s lifelong love of the source material is clear—especially when Ana learns information that will help her find a way to protect the group. A foreword by Roshani Chokshi introduces this adventure that is both great entertainment and centers a well-developed protagonist who is thoughtfully shown dealing with loss. Ana is of Bundeli Indian descent, and her group of peers, who are diverse in various ways, experience losses and struggles of their own. (Final illustrations not seen.)
A riveting novel that will have readers rooting for its star. (Harding-Pencroft Academy guide, cast list) (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-07792-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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