The Moon Over Star

The 1969 moon landing is the locus for this inspired collaboration. Aston ("An Egg Is Quiet") subtly inserts facts about the "Apollo 11" mission into a broader, poetic story about the excitement it generates in an eight-year-olds community. Mae, the narrator, begins the day in church with her grandfather, where everyone prays for the astronauts. Later, as she and her cousins build a play spaceship, she thinks more about her grandfather, a hardworking farmer who considers the space program a waste of money. By the end of the evening, the whole family has seen Neil Armstrong on the moon, and Maes quietly confided dream of going to the moon someday has reminded Gramps of the wonder in his own childhood (afterward, A sigh in Grampss voice/ Made my heart squeeze). In some of his finest watercolors to date, Pinkney ("The All-Ill-Ever-Want Christmas Doll") supplies both his characteristically affectionate, realistic portrayals of African-American families and lyrical views of the moon, giving visual form to what Aston evokes: awe. Ages 68. "(Oct.)" Copyright 2008 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

K-Gr 3A girl remembers the summer of 1969 and the first moon landing in this lushly illustrated, 40th-anniversary tribute. From her small town of Star, Mae and her family pray for the astronauts, she and her cousins build a homemade "rocket ship," and they all watch the historic moment on television. Pinkney's remarkable graphite, ink, and watercolor paintings evoke both the vastness of space and the intimacy of 1960s family life. Writing in the voice of a nine-year-old African-American girl, Aston is lyrical and sometimes evocative, though some of her narrative choices are overworked. The visual format of the free verses, with every line beginning with a capital letter, is distracting and interferes with the text's natural rhythms. The choice of the name Mae for the character who aspires to be an astronaut may be homage paid to Mae Jemison, and even the name of the fictional town seems to exist just for its metaphorical value. That said, this book offers children a close-up view of an experience that seems quaint today, but that was life-changing in 1969. Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.