With last year, 2019, being the
50th anniversary of the first human moon landing — Apollo 11 — I had read quite
a few books about that Apollo 11 mission in the spirit of commemorating the
anniversary. Moonbound was the first book I read in 2020, after seeing it on
our New Books display at the downtown library, and it started off the new year
in a magnificent way.
Jonathan Fetter-Vorm is the
author/illustrator of this graphic novel look at Apollo 11. He alternates
chapters dealing with the build-up to and success of the Apollo 11 moon landing
and return, with chapters dealing with various individuals and moments in
history that highlight humans’ fascination with the moon (and astronomy) and
with the development of the U.S. space program. The Apollo chapters are in full
color, while the alternate chapters are all in monotone (for instance, B&W
with blue highlights only, or B*W with orange highlights only). These alternate
chapters deal with such diverse topics as Johannes Kepler, Nazi scientist
Wernher Von Braun, Soviet rocket scientist Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the
Mercury astronauts, Women in the early years of the astronaut program, Margaret
Hamilton and the early human computers, and so much more.
Even though I consider myself a
space enthusiast, I learned new things from reading this book. Fetter-Vorm’s
art style is occasionally a bit crude, but he captures the likenesses of well-known
historical figures — the astronauts, scientists, politicians, etc. — very well!
And for covering events that took place decades ago, he manages to build up a
serious amount of suspense and drama. I particularly appreciated his closing
chapters, which talk about the role of the space program in the years after
Apollo, and the ongoing historical debate over whether the entire Apollo
program was an appropriate and effective use of taxpayer funds.
I found this an absolutely
engrossing read. I especially recommend it for anyone looking for a good
overview of the Apollo program, but who isn’t willing to commit themselves to a
large, text-only format!
[If
you enjoy this, you may also wish to check out the One Small Step
booklist, filled with additional recommended materials for Apollo Program
enthusiasts! (coming soon)]
[
official Moonbound
page on the official Jonathan
Fetter-Vorm web site ]
Have you read this one? What
did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!
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