*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

Jeter Publishing presents the second nonfiction biography in a brand-new series that celebrates men and women who altered the course of history often without recognition. On July 16, 1969, a Gemini rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Previous launches had focused on getting astronauts into space, docking two spacecraft, and even walking in space, but this mission was different. Apollo 11 was designed to land two astronauts on the moon and then bring them back to Earth. Four days later, two astronauts, Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, did walk on the moon. But did you know that there were actually three astronauts aboard the rocket on July 16? Michael Collins didn’t get to walk on the Moon, but his contribution is just as important as Armstrong and Aldrin’s. Prior to joining NASA, Collins was in the Air Force and flew fighter jets. After joining NASA, he made two trips into space, performing one of the first EVAs or Extravehicular activities (in other words, walking in space) as well as making that trip to the moon. Collins continued to contribute even after leaving the space program. He took a job in the State Department and even served as director of the National Air & Space Museum and as undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He may not have walked on the moon, but he’s one of only twenty-four people to travel there. In fact, without Michael Collins, that first moon landing might never have happened.

A Washington Post KidsPost Summer Book Club Read Twelve-year-old Ruby Moon Hayes does not want her new classmates to ask about her father. She does not want them to know her mother has been arrested. And she definitely does not want to make any friends. Ruby just wants to stay as silent and invisible as a new moon in the frozen sky. She and her mother won’t be staying long in Vermont anyway, and then things can go back to the way they were before everything went wrong. But keeping to herself isn’t easy when Ahmad Saleem, a Syrian refugee, decides he’s her new best friend. Or when she meets “the Bird Lady,” a recluse named Abigail who lives in a ramshackle shed near Ruby’s house. Before long Ahmad and Abigail have become Ruby’s friends—and she realizes there is more to their stories than everyone knows. As ugly rumors begin to swirl around the people Ruby loves, she must make a choice: break her silence, or risk losing everything that’s come to mean so much to her. Ruby in the Sky is a story of the walls we hide behind, and the magic that can happen when we’re brave enough to break free.

There is a competition to make the spacesuit for the first moon landing Ellie, an ordinary woman, is asked to lead a team of other talented seamstresses. No one believes they can win, but they are determined to try. Based on the incredible true story behind the spacesuit that astronauts wore on the first moon walk and the team of women who sewed it together.

The decades-long love story of a NASA commander and the leader of the Astronaut Wives Club Far Side of the Moon is the untold, fully authorized story of the lives of Frank and Susan Borman. One was a famous astronaut—an instrumental part of the Apollo space program—but the other was just as much a warrior. This real-life love story is far from a fairy tale. Life as a military wife was beyond demanding, but Susan always rose to the occasion. When Frank joined NASA and was selected to command the first mission to orbit the moon, that meant putting on a brave face for the world as her husband risked his life for the space race. The pressure and anxiety were overwhelming, and eventually Susan's well-hidden depression and alcoholism finally came to light. Frank had to come to terms with how his "mission above all else" mentality contributed to his wife's suffering. As Susan healed, she was able to begin helping others who suffered in silence from mental illness and addiction. Discover how Frank and Susan's love and commitment to each other is still overcoming life's challenges, even beyond their years as an Apollo commander and the founder of the Astronaut Wives Club.

A biography of the astronaut, Michael Collins, who circled the moon in the Apollo 12 space capsule while his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module and walked on the moon.

“This behind-the-scenes look at the first Apollo moon landing has the feel of a public television documentary in its breadth and detail” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Here is a rare perspective on a story we only thought we knew. For Apollo 11, the first moon landing, is a story that belongs to many, not just the few and famous. It belongs to the seamstress who put together twenty-two layers of fabric for each space suit. To the engineers who created a special heat shield to protect the capsule during its fiery reentry. It belongs to the flight directors, camera designers, software experts, suit testers, telescope crew, aerospace technicians, photo developers, engineers, and navigators. Gathering direct quotes from some of these folks who worked behind the scenes, Catherine Thimmesh reveals their very human worries and concerns. Culling NASA transcripts, national archives, and stunning NASA photos from Apollo 11, she captures not only the sheer magnitude of this feat but also the dedication, ingenuity, and perseverance of the greatest team ever—the team that worked to first put man on that great gray rock in the sky. Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award “An edge-of-your-seat adventure . . . Lavishly illustrated . . . This exhilarating book . . . will captivate.” —Chicago Sun-Times “Thimmesh gives names and voices to the army that got Neil Armstrong and company to the moon and back. The result is a spectacular and highly original addition to the literature of space exploration.” —The Horn Book “This beautiful and well-documented tribute will introduce a new generation to that triumphant time.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)