Earthrise

March 15, 2014
A member of the Apollo 14 mission and the sixth person to walk on the moon chronicles his life experiences leading up to that defining event and how it changed him forever afterward. With an assist from Mahoney, Mitchell discusses his first solo airplane flight as a young teen, experiences as a Navy combat pilot, his time in Roswell, N.M., amid nuclear testing and the rumored UFO crash, and becoming a NASA astronaut. Following the disastrous Apollo 13 mission, there was plenty of anxiety amid the Apollo 14 mission, but the crew completed all they set out to do and returned safely to Earth. Mitchell returned profoundly moved, the experience prompting him to become a lifelong spiritual seeker. Readers will appreciate his wonderfully detailed account of his astronaut training, spaceflight and moon landing, describing everything from the practical--eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom in space--to the mystical, life-changing experience of gazing at the Earth from afar. The book includes informative sidebars and transcripts of NASA recordings from the Apollo 14 mission. This fascinating insider account of astronaut training and the transformative experience of traveling to the moon will especially appeal to readers with an interest in astronomy and space travel. (chronology, websites, bibliography) (Memoir. 12-16)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2014
Grades 7-10 Only 12 human beings have walked on the moon, and Edgar Mitchell, lunar module pilot of the 1971 Apollo 14 mission, is one of the fortunate few. This is Mitchell's inspiring autobiography, from his beginnings on his family's ranch in New Mexico, to a career as a navy combat pilot and astronaut, to the founding of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Mitchell returned from the moon transformed by an experience he calls his metanoia, a Greek word meaning change of mind or heart, and he has spent his post-NASA career researching human consciousness. Meticulous in its details, the text skillfully translates the highly scientific aspects of Mitchell's work into easily managed sections that will perfectly suit casual readers and researchers alike. While less attention is paid to his personal life, no aspect of the space program is left unexplained. Younger readers may find his explanations of going to the bathroom in space and the ESP experiments he conducted while in orbit of particular interest. A time line and annotated list of additional resources follows the text.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)