I Love You, Michael Collins - Hardcover

Baratz-Logsted, Lauren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374303851 ISBN 13: 9780374303853

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2017

Synopsis

2018-19 Maine Student Book Award Reading List.

Amazon Editors recommend this book for readers who have recently discovered middle grade novels with more intricate story lines.

Amazon Editors' Pick Best Books of June 2017

Semifinalist: GoodReads Choice Awards 2017 Best Middle Grade and Children's Book

National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018

The Planetary Society Recommended Space Books for Kids of All Ages 2017

The National Science and Engineering Council of Canada list of books for Science Literacy Week 2018

2018-2019 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award Intermediate Grade list

It's 1969 and the country is gearing up for what looks to be the most exciting moment in U.S. history: men landing on the moon. Ten-year-old Mamie's class is given an assignment to write letters to the astronauts. All the girls write to Neil Armstrong ("So cute!") and all the boys write to Buzz Aldrin ("So cool!"). 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. 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. 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.
A Margaret Ferguson Book

About this title

About the Author

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of over 25 books for adults, teens and children, including the popular nine-book series The Sisters 8, which she created with her husband and daughter. Before becoming a writer, Lauren was an independent bookseller, Publishers Weekly reviewer, freelance editor, sort-of librarian, and window washer. She lives in Danbury, Connecticut, with her family and their cat, Yoyo. She still remembers watching the astronauts land on the moon.

From School Library Journal

Gr 4–7—In the summer of 1969, NASA prepares to send Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon while 10-year-old Mamie writes letters to Michael Collins, Apollo 11's pilot. When Mamie's mother, an unsatisfied housewife, leaves home, Mamie's father follows, and the girl's support network disintegrates until she is home alone. Mamie hides this fact as she and her best friend Buster research Apollo 11, preparing their own neighborhood celebrations. Space launch drama mirrors Mamie's personal upheaval, her feelings swinging wildly between despair and joy. As Mamie's family members gingerly reconnect, she ties the space launch to her own experiences. Baratz-Logsted pens a quiet gem bubbling with unexpected turmoil. The epistolary format gives Mamie a vehicle to cope with crisis; the letters reveal her to be resourceful and contemplative without sounding stilted or unsympathetic. She writes short, direct sentences that feel childlike yet profound. Throughout the novel, Baratz-Logsted addresses gender roles with a light hand. In Mamie's class, "all the boys [say] they [want] to be astronauts." Then one girl says, "I want to marry an astronaut." The other girls follow suit, but not Mamie. Mamie's mother and older sister Eleanor also explore nontraditional female roles in 1960s society. Mamie's family members—even when fighting—don't waste words on emotion. This phlegmatic attitude steers the work away from Greek tragedy and makes the rare moments of love resonate more strongly. VERDICT Mamie's story cleverly shifts focus from macro to micro events in ways that children and educators will enjoy. Recommended for all libraries serving middle grade readers.—Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0374303851
• ISBN 13: 9780374303853
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240