I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Though some of the letters can be forced ('Do you know what an Erector set is, Michael Collins?'), they are an effective way for Mamie to confide in the astronaut about the escalating tensions between her parents the absence of her oldest sister, Eleanor (who recently moved out) and 16-year-old sister Bess's fixation on her boyfriend. In this epistolary novel set during the charged weeks preceding the Apollo 11 launch, a class assignment prompts 10-year-old Mamie Anderson to write letters to astronaut Michael Collins, while her classmates favor Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, who will actually set foot on the moon.

And as the date of the launch nears, Mamie can't help but wonder: Does no one stay with the ship anymore? With I LOVE YOU, MICHAEL COLLINS, Lauren Baratz-Logsted has created a heartwarming story about family and being true to yourself. After school ends, Mamie keeps writing to Michael Collins, taking comfort in telling someone about what's going on with her family as, one by one, they leave the house thinking that someone else is taking care of her-until she is all alone except for her cat and her best friend, Buster. Only Mamie writes to Michael Collins, the astronaut who will come so close but never achieve everyone else's dream of walking on the moon, because he is the one who must stay with the ship.

All the girls write to Neil Armstrong ('So cute!') and all the boys write to Buzz Aldrin ('So cool!'). Ten-year-old Mamie’s class is given an assignment to write letters to the astronauts. It’s 1969 and the country is gearing up for what looks to be the most exciting moment in U.S. The National Science and Engineering Council of Canada list of books for Science Literacy Week 2018Ģ018-2019 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award Intermediate Grade listĢ018-19 Maine Student Book Award Reading ListĢ018-2019 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award List, Grades 3-5 The Planetary Society Recommended Space Books for Kids of All Ages 2017 National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018 Semifinalist: GoodReads Choice Awards 2017 Best Middle Grade and Children's Book

Amazon Editors' Pick Best Books of June 2017

I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted