What a lovely, girl-power-filled story!

The illustrations are STUNNING. The science throughout is captivating -- I've long been obsessed with astronomy, and this definitely did NOT disappoint.

And to see a young female protagonist with such brilliance and capability?

That's what I wish I'd seen in stories, when I was growing up. Audrey is the type of girl I wish I'd known, and now will strive to be: confident in her abilities, unafraid to offer her opinions or stand behind her points.

Captivating, beautiful, and full of heart, this is one title that truly can be summed up as "out of this world." I'll definitely be purchasing a copy of this title for myself!

Enjoyable story from a 5th graders point of view of the moon landing. The book does show how often girls are over looked by boys and even their fathers when it comes to science. From a mom of girls it’s good to show them that being overlooked or put down because you are a girl is something that does happen. However, I would have liked to see the a message of teaching boys a different train of thought, Overall fun read. The illustrations are beautiful!



Thank you Netgalley and Capstone for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Audrey And Apollo 11 By Rebecca Rissman| Book Review|
fictiveescapes Book Reviews, Book Reviews July 25, 2020 1 Minute
I was interested the second that I saw this book because lets be real… you don’t see a lot of female characters interacting with science; even though that is slowly starting to change with video games and computer coding becoming more mainstream.


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The novel follows a young girl named Audrey whose father works for NASA. Audrey loves building model rockets in her backyard and composing her own flight path ideas on notebook paper. The conflict begins why she tries to join a model rocket club and the neighborhood boys make her feel unwelcome; in the end she earns their trust and respect to join the club.

I really enjoyed Audrey’s character. She wasn’t afraid to do the things that she was interested in and wasn’t afraid to stand up for her knowledge and individual power.

This book would be a good introduction to historical fiction for children. Seeing a young string female character, who isn’t overly annoying, is rare to see in a beginning chapter book.

I recommend this book for all ages. It was a fun read that definitely makes history more approchable- I hope that the Smithsonian goes on to fund more of these novels. Thank You NetGalley for providing me with an early review copy.

Audrey and Apollo 11 by Rebecca Rissman

Rating: 5/5

Audrey and Apollo 11 is a children fiction book about a little girl Audrey. Fifth-grader Audrey is obsessed with space science. She wishes to work at NASA as her father does. However, her father is not so happy about that. Audrey does not five up and creates her own model rocket. She faces a number of challenges in her way but she keeps on doing what she loves. The story takes place when Apollo 11 is just launched. Little Audrey helps the astronauts with an easy solution to a big problem that makes Apollo 11 successful.

As children fiction, the book has done great work with pictures and language. The addition of cute pictures in between the narration lights up the cells of imagination. The narration is very simple so that kids don’t need a big dictionary book while reading this. Not only the kids but also the elders will enjoy the book as I did.
The book says about following your passion. One has to love what he/she is doing. Otherwise, the job will not satisfy the heart. Following your passion, no matter what the resistance is, gives you immense pleasure. The author has tried to convey this message through little Audrey. The execution of the book is so good that it will end up sending a positive message to the kids.

Rebecca Rissman has voiced up her opinion about the problems that some girls face in their work life. The ratio of the boy: girl in some fields is so low that often the girls do not get noticed. The author has beautifully sent her message through the conversation of Audrey and her father.

The Apollo 11 mission is described so vividly that I was equally enthralled when they succeeded. Little Audrey and her best friend Gary have my heart. The masterstroke of the book is the climax. However, I am not going to spoil the readers. So, happy reading, guys!

Thank you, NetGalley, Capstone Publishers, and Rebecca Rissman for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

**I am not a preteen girl, but luckily I have one at home. So, I read this book and wrote this review with the input of my 9 year old daughter.**

According to the 9 year old: This is a 4 to 4.5 star book. I liked that the book focused on girl power. I didn't like the way her dad treated her at first and that she would have to work harder because she was a girl.

According to the Dad: The book Audrey and Apollo 11 is about a young girl who is the daughter of a man who works in mission control for NASA. Audrey and her best friend are rocket enthusiasts although her father doesn't seem to want her to follow in his footsteps. Over the course of he book, Audrey will find out that being a girl in a male dominated area means that in order to be taken seriously you have to be bold and prove you deserve to be there.

The story itself is fairly simple, but carries a message that kids often need to hear - that if you truly want something you have to be willing to work hard for it. I personally like the message and the way it was presented. It might be a good book to help girls be more interested in STEM programs... especially if it could be tied to a rocketry unit or activity. The brief synopsis of the US Space Program at the end was also nice. The one negative was the writers style of starting chapters in the middle of a scene with no lead-in. It had my daughter occasionally asking me to go back because she thought I'd missed a page.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a pre-release copy of this book.

This was a wonderful read! I loved the fact that the author choose a girl to be interested in working for the space program in the 60's. I was in grade school during the time of the Apollo program and, I never thought that I could have been an astronaut since they were all men. The plot was interesting and I loved that they used a real problem which occurred on Apollo 11 which Audrey solved (when Buzz had to use the pen to trigger the switch). Audrey and Apollo 11 is a great example of how gender stereotypes were during that time.

"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!" was my reaction at the end of the book "Audrey and Apollo 11". This book deserves 5 stars, or even - given the topic - 5 moons!

The first moon: told from the point of view of Audrey, a 10-year-old girl, it's a very enchanting story, making you breathe the atmosphere of year 1969 with the tension, the excitement, the joy of the first landing on the Moon.

Second moon: it shows that prepared, determined, courageous women can overcome obstacles and achieve any goal.

Third: the illustrations accompanying the story are absolutely fine and of excellent quality.

The fourth moon: the Author offers a wide range of words and verbs, which enhance and make the narrative more interesting.

The last moon: it arouses the curiosity to know other works by these two talented women, Rebecca Rissman and Jacqui Davis.

A highly recommended book!

Audrey and Apollo 11 is a beautiful children’s book, more than a story about a little girl who wants to work at NASA when she grows old is about the difficulties and struggles that girls and woman have to overcome to participate in the scientific field, being a physics engineer myself I have to recognize that is not always easy to be taken seriously in a world made for men. However, the lessons for little kids that this book teaches are even more, like the importance of science and the amazing historical event of humans landing in the moon that marked such a big date in history. But even more importantly the value of hard work, perseverance and not letting anyone tell you what your limitations are. This is done in a way kids can engage and understand from the perspective of a little girl, with beautiful illustrations and exciting characters. This is overall the kind of books I wish my parents had read to me before I went to sleep when I was young.

The book review I'm linking will be released on my YouTube channel on August 3 2020 after the book is published. My review on Goodreads is already available.

Thank you Netgalley and Capstone (Stone Arch Books) for accepting my request to read this. — Audrey and Apollo 11 is a charming story about a young girl with a passion for space travel. She wants to follow her dad's footsteps, working for NASA, and spends her days tinkering on rockets. But although Audrey is sincere in her dream, she's also being discouraged by... well, she's a girl.

As a social worker and family guidance counsellor I'm always on the lookout for books that can help develop personalities and explore books. This story, I suspected, would be a nice addition for children who are adventurers at heart. And I think it succeeds.

This story has a charming way to say: <i>"Do it, chase that dream and don't be sorry for it"</i>. It contains a powerful message shaped into a feel-good children's tale. There's an educational theme going around but it's also adventurous and empowering. The author chose to link a story about identity and dreams to the real life launch of Apollo 11 and I think that's very smart. Doing this allows the author to teach children space slang and history. If done right, children will be more likely to pick up books like this rather than find themselves forced into obligatory school lit. And this book is doing it right. Historical fiction in children's books is a smart genre to educate and still keep a fictional, adventurous theme.

I can highly recommend this for children who are fascinated by anything space related. The author includes a glossary for space related slang and a brief history of the space race between USA and the Soviet Union. This is a nice educational touch on top of a charming fictional story about a girl who wants to have fun and fight for her identity.

The only thing I hoped this book would do more is add more personality and passion for space. For example, descriptions of Audrey's room, her rambling on about space travel, and so on. It's small things like this that would add more heart to the story. The lack of these descriptions or personality traits made the story feel a bit rushed at times. I understand children's books can't be too long but details like a ceiling filled with stars, that would lit up the sky in the dark, would only enlarge children's eyes in delight.

What I also want to add is that the illustrations by Jacqui Davis add so much charm . Her illustrations have an imaginative atmosphere and I hope the final copy of Audrey and Apollo 11 will feature these illustrations in color.