You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
More a note to self than a review:
This was a very sweet, but sad, short read. I guess rather bittersweet. I am very clearly not the target audience, and I kind of felt that while reading. Like it wasn't one of those children's books that pulled me in so much that you forget you're reading, you know? But it did make me reflect a lot about my family and my childhood and writing in general. I really liked the whole metaphor of 'staying with the ship' and the mirrors drawn between Michael Collins and Mamie, which I feel like I should've seen coming? But also, I didn't know anything about the book going in, so I suppose that's why I didn't see it sooner.
Reading this as an adult sure feels different than it would've if I were Mamie's age and reading this. I feel like I spent most of the book being really annoyed by the adults and teens in Mamie's family because like, HOW CAN YOU LEAVE A CHILD HOME ALONE LIKE THAT?????? And then Mamie just forgives them all? They're fictional characters and I still haven't forgiven them all! But I think as a kid I would've been way more forgiving of that and seen it more as like... scary, but an adventure and opportunity to grow and everything, so... It was very interesting to once again see how I can absolutely tell I would've felt very differently about this book at a different age. That's just something that's been fascinating me recently.
But yeah, overall, I just have this like... sweet/bittersweet aftertaste thinking back on the novel. I love the two parallel plots of Mamie's family and also the moon landing and it was really interesting to hear all about it, because I don't know much about it! Having not grown up in the US, I've heard more about the conspiracy theories than the event itself, and I didn't realise just how dangerous it all was! It was also very fun to recognise that there was still so much tension in the novel surrounding the moon landing, and I was worried for the astronauts, even though... Well, we all know how it ends! I know they all get back safely, you know? And that was just really interesting to see done, because I worked with that idea in my Bachelor's Thesis, the idea of working with an event where the audience knows the outcome but still keeping up the tension. So I thought it was super cool to see that done with another historical event.
Yeah, this book definitely made me think a lot, which is always really nice. It was a nice, quick read when I was in-between other books, and it took me into an era I know very little about, and I learned about an event I know very little about, and that's pretty cool.
Definitely recommended to kids in general, but also kids who like space, rockets, and maybe sometimes feel their families are falling apart a little. And I guess, people of all ages with those same interests and those same feelings, as long as you're aware that it is a kids' book, written for kids and from a kid's perspective.
This was a very sweet, but sad, short read. I guess rather bittersweet. I am very clearly not the target audience, and I kind of felt that while reading. Like it wasn't one of those children's books that pulled me in so much that you forget you're reading, you know? But it did make me reflect a lot about my family and my childhood and writing in general. I really liked the whole metaphor of 'staying with the ship' and the mirrors drawn between Michael Collins and Mamie, which I feel like I should've seen coming? But also, I didn't know anything about the book going in, so I suppose that's why I didn't see it sooner.
Reading this as an adult sure feels different than it would've if I were Mamie's age and reading this. I feel like I spent most of the book being really annoyed by the adults and teens in Mamie's family because like,
But yeah, overall, I just have this like... sweet/bittersweet aftertaste thinking back on the novel. I love the two parallel plots of Mamie's family and also the moon landing and it was really interesting to hear all about it, because I don't know much about it! Having not grown up in the US, I've heard more about the conspiracy theories than the event itself, and I didn't realise just how dangerous it all was! It was also very fun to recognise that there was still so much tension in the novel surrounding the moon landing, and I was worried for the astronauts, even though... Well, we all know how it ends! I know they all get back safely, you know? And that was just really interesting to see done, because I worked with that idea in my Bachelor's Thesis, the idea of working with an event where the audience knows the outcome but still keeping up the tension. So I thought it was super cool to see that done with another historical event.
Yeah, this book definitely made me think a lot, which is always really nice. It was a nice, quick read when I was in-between other books, and it took me into an era I know very little about, and I learned about an event I know very little about, and that's pretty cool.
Definitely recommended to kids in general, but also kids who like space, rockets, and maybe sometimes feel their families are falling apart a little. And I guess, people of all ages with those same interests and those same feelings, as long as you're aware that it is a kids' book, written for kids and from a kid's perspective.
I've tried finishing the book in 10 days since it's the first book I haven't listened to in a long time, and I did it in nine! Yay!
The book is written as letters to the astronaut Michael Collins, and this is the first time for me to know who is he (totally blaming my national only education). He was one of the three astronauts who went to the moon, but he was the one who stayed with the ship.
There three main things that touched me in the book; the first one is how depressing it was for MC knowing that he'll never set foot on the moon, the second one was the short biography about him, and the last one was Mamie being left alone.
I was so angry reading that last part, and it didn't help that I was sad and lonely myself at the time. I was so angry and really wanted her to yell at her family and make them all feel guilty for what they did.. but whatever, nothing goes as I want.
Overall, I'm really happy I got to read this, even with it not being an audio.
The book is written as letters to the astronaut Michael Collins, and this is the first time for me to know who is he (totally blaming my national only education). He was one of the three astronauts who went to the moon, but he was the one who stayed with the ship.
There three main things that touched me in the book; the first one is how depressing it was for MC knowing that he'll never set foot on the moon, the second one was the short biography about him, and the last one was Mamie being left alone.
I was so angry reading that last part, and it didn't help that I was sad and lonely myself at the time. I was so angry and really wanted her to yell at her family and make them all feel guilty for what they did.. but whatever, nothing goes as I want.
Overall, I'm really happy I got to read this, even with it not being an audio.
11 yo read for BOTH Dec 2022 (video and slide). She liked it a lot.
I picked up this book because I found the concept interesting; a ten year old girl writes to astronaut Michael Collins in the weeks leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing. However, I found it doesn't really work. The letters read as if they were written by a much older child, young adult even, not a ten year old whose family life is in crisis in the days surrounding the Apollo 11 mission. Mamie's letters contain many details about Michael Collins and his mission, things he would obviously know, for our benefit. In the end Michael Collins writes her one letter that, based on what I've read about him and by him, is unlike him. I think Mamie's story would have made a wonderful, junior historical fiction novel, written in a traditional form. The letters just got in the way.
“Is that true, Michael Collins? Did you know about this? Did you know about this before saying that, yes, you’d go on this mission? Did you know the risk, and still you said yes?”
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mamie writes letters to Michael Collins an astronaut who is going up to space with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. She thinks he is the best one because he holds down the fort just like she has to when her family leaves her home alone.
I find it difficult to believe that kids reading this would have a good understanding of what was happening unless they had prior knowledge of the first moonwalk.
I find it difficult to believe that kids reading this would have a good understanding of what was happening unless they had prior knowledge of the first moonwalk.
A young girl’s summary of the 1969 launch of Apollo 11 and the historic walk on the moon. Mamie sympathizes with Michael Collins, the astronaut to NOT walk on the moon but rather who pilots the shuttle back to Earth. Mamie is going through a very difficult time at home and writing letters to Michael Collins is keeping her 10-year old self able to cope. Add in an awesome best friend and a loyal cat, readers can’t help but support Mamie through this summer of upheaval.
Grades 5 and up. An interesting historical fiction but I kept hoping for a bit more heart.
Grades 5 and up. An interesting historical fiction but I kept hoping for a bit more heart.
I've tried finishing the book in 10 days since it's the first book I haven't listened to in a long time, and I did it in nine! Yay!
The book is written as letters to the astronaut Michael Collins, and this is the first time for me to know who is he (totally blaming my national only education). He was one of the three astronauts who went to the moon, but he was the one who stayed with the ship.
There three main things that touched me in the book; the first one is how depressing it was for MC knowing that he'll never set foot on the moon, the second one was the short biography about him, and the last one was Mamie being left alone.
I was so angry reading that last part, and it didn't help that I was sad and lonely myself at the time. I was so angry and really wanted her to yell at her family and make them all feel guilty for what they did.. but whatever, nothing goes as I want.
Overall, I'm really happy I got to read this, even with it not being an audio.
The book is written as letters to the astronaut Michael Collins, and this is the first time for me to know who is he (totally blaming my national only education). He was one of the three astronauts who went to the moon, but he was the one who stayed with the ship.
There three main things that touched me in the book; the first one is how depressing it was for MC knowing that he'll never set foot on the moon, the second one was the short biography about him, and the last one was Mamie being left alone.
I was so angry reading that last part, and it didn't help that I was sad and lonely myself at the time. I was so angry and really wanted her to yell at her family and make them all feel guilty for what they did.. but whatever, nothing goes as I want.
Overall, I'm really happy I got to read this, even with it not being an audio.
Took a while to get into but then I really liked it!