LUCKY 13

The story of Apollo 13 and its three heroic astronauts receives sturdy treatment in this new picture book that centers on the story of astronaut Jim Lovell. Readers learn that he grew up obsessed with flight in the 1930s, joined the Navy, and became an astronaut in 1962. After having orbited the Moon as a member of the Apollo 8 team, he is chosen for the Apollo 13 team, which is to be the third mission to land on the Moon, blasting off on April 11, 1970. All goes smoothly until there’s an explosion just outside the Command Module. Hilliard tells his tale with a few too many exclamation points, but touches on the kinds of details kids will respond to, explaining how the astronauts worked with Houston to jury-rig the Lunar Module as a “lifeboat” and how, perhaps worst of all, the families of the three men watched the life-and-death drama unfold on television. The dramatic acrylic illustrations resemble enhanced period photographs and share the spread with an ongoing sidebar that provides encyclopedia-like blurbs about the astronauts and the mission. The fact-packed book makes up in clarity what it lacks in flair. (Informational picture book. 8-11)