David GetzBesprekingen

Interesting story, but...why are the authors so complacent about the fact that a pretty girl was murdered to placate an imaginary deity?½

I like this book. It was written shortly after the discovery of the Tyrolean iceman, before some of the essential facts were in. It seems that he actually died of a fatal arrow wound. Somebody should write a novel about him and his struggles.

Eight-year-old Maxine’s art project is an assignment to look at her home in a new way and to draw what she sees. So she travels to Kennedy Space Center in Florida where she rides on a space shuttle to draw her picture . . . and makes an amazing discovery.

Young readers will find Maxine’s journey entertaining as they learn some basic facts about space travel. There’s a great deal of space science information packed into Maxine’s story, making it perfect for readers interested in astronauts, space travel, and science. Colorful illustrations support the informative text.

Recommended.

I read the original edition of this book, published in 1997, which predates the Pathfinder/Sojourner landing by a couple of years. This means that its most up-to-date close-range information is from the Viking lander in the 70s and from the then recently discovered Martian meteorite, ALH 84001, or rather, found in 84, but discovered to be of Martian origin only in 95 or thereabouts.

It's a fun little book. The front cover makes it look like it must be large format, but it has roughly the same area, although not quite the same aspect ratio, as your average hardback novel. Suitable for older children or young adults, the 74 page book is divided into about 10 chapters. It is well bound, with glossy paper, and illustrated by original black-and-white photographs as well as soft black-and-white artists renditions by Peter McCarty. The narrative is partly in the second person, addressed to an imagined Martian astronaut, and partly in the third person. The sentences are short and use simple words; they employ effective metaphors for their discussions of the atmosphere on Mars and the dangers of space travel. Much better than many of its kind.

Interesting words and phrases: Hohmann transfer, launch window (generally known), entry-mass spectrometer (unknown), galactic rays (cosmic rays from outside the solar system), solar flares.

This book is a wonderful read. It presents facts in an arresting way and urges the reader to continue so he or she can help solve the mystery of why the influenza outbreak of 1918-1919 was so virulent and so deadly. It is informative without being too complex for as young as middle school readers on up to high school readers. It follows a great chronology and includes primary documents in the form of photographs.

One caveat: it has the potential to induce anxiety in young readers, especially because it directly addresses how we may be completely helpless in the face of a major outbreak of a new strain of influenza.

A drawback of this book today is that it was published in 2000 and is unlikely to be up-to-date. However, the reader can be encouraged to continue with independent research into contemporary knowledge of this strain of flu.

This book is a great book is students are learning about the mummified Ice Man in the Alps. This gives a background on it and can make students interested in scientific discoveries and how humans used to be. The best ages would be for 1-2 grade. This can prepare students for future history lessons on this subject and can have activities to understand what scientists did to find the body.

There was one main reason why I really liked this book. The book was very engaging because it was fictional and informative. The fictional parts of this book were very interesting. It was unique to make the main character an eight year old astronaut. That obviously would not happen but that will allow the children who read this book to connect. Another interesting fictional part was why the eight year old went on a space adventure. She did this all for an art assignment where she had to draw her home in a new way. She took the hard way and wanted to draw the Earth as her home from the view of outer space.
The informative parts of this book were very useful information for children. This book introduces a lot of facts about space and astronauts while it connected with the story. While children will read this book they might not even realize that they are learning about space. The author revealed facts about gravity in a subtle manner. He did this while he was describing the main character’s last Earthly privileges, like showering. He explained that astronauts cannot shower in space by saying, “Water spraying out of a shower would float all over the place and quickly fill the cabin with dancing beads of liquid.” He explained the importance of the pieces of gear astronauts wear by saying, “She put on long thermal underwear in case she got too cold. On top of her thermal underwear she put on her cooling underwear, in case she began to overheat.” A really interesting fact that the author incorporated in this book a couple of times was how fast the rocket was moving. She went from going 760 miles per hour to 11,000 miles per hour. Anyone would be amazed at that fact! Another important concept the author introduced was the weight difference on the moon. Maxine went from feeling as if she weighed two hundred pounds to feeling as if she weighed nothing at all. This explained that when people are on the moon they weigh less than they would if they were on Earth. Another really cool fact that was presented was that Maxine did not see any lines from where the countries are divided. This is obvious to an adult reader but a child might not know that fact. The author did a great job in introducing facts throughout the whole book.

Floating home is a very imaginative depiction of Maxine’s artistic process of drawing her home in a new way, the assignment given to her be her teacher (likely 2nd grade, Maxine is 8 years old). The author uses some academic language that would be difficult for some students, however in the story the descriptions and language work well with the illustrations to convey clearly what the author is describing. As the author explains Maxine’s process of traveling to space to draw her home from a completely new perspective, he uses simplistic language mixed with academic to ensure it is accessible. I really enjoyed the creativity of the illustrations, depicting the whole artistic process as well as the stylized nature of the images themselves. The concept of the book was almost like a dream, however I believe it is intended to be the imagination of Maxine as she attempts to draw her home from a new perspective. I would read this story to my students and use it as a teachable moment to encourage children to look at things from multiple perspectives.

This book concerns itself with the Influenza outbreak of 1918 which coincided with the final year of the First World War. Its title refers to a colloquial term for the disease due to victims turning purple from lack of oxygen. It reveals that the disease dis not linger, indeed it was gone within months of its arrival and that its cause is still somewhat of a mystery. What was most mystifying about the flu was that, contrary to other flu outbreaks, this disease only affected healthy adults rather than the young or the old who tended to survive contracting the disease. This is an absolute reversal of typical diseases which caused death in weakened patients. The book described how the disease spread across the world in "waves" and how it first became heavily reported on by the Spanish, leading to its more common nickname "Spanish Flu" as media coverage lead to the perception that it was more prevalent there. The book concluded by tracking a team of researchers as they traveled to Nome, Alaska to exhume and collect samples from those who died of the disease and were buried beneath the permafrost. The idea was that these scientists would get a better idea of what the virus was and perhaps create a vaccine in the event that it ever reemerged.
This would be a good book for Middle School and High School students

Genre: Nonfiction - Informational
Reading Level: Intermediate

Summary: You are assigned to go on a special mission for a few years. You will be gone from your family and friends but you will be doing what no other person has done before… Prepare to go to Mars.

Evaluation: Life on Mars was a neat book to read. It was filled with so many facts and information about the Red Planet, but also made it feel like you were in the space shuttle throughout the story. It starts out, “Your commander turns down the lights in the cabin to cut the glare.” The imagery David Getz uses during the book is amazing. Every sentence he writes paints a picture in your head. That is one of the best parts about this short chapter book. In order to keep children intrigued, they need that element that will grab their attention from the first sentence and keep them entranced until the end. This story does just that. There are also photographs taken by NASA included on a few pages that add that extra curiosity to keep reading.

In its entirety, this small book packs a lot of information and is highly recommended to lower-leveled middle school students. The book begins with the discovery of a frozen man in the Alps. At first the discovery is reported to local police who believe that the man was possibly murdered. Closer observation of the man and his belongings suggests that the man is not event from this time.

After careful examination, it is concluded that the frozen man is from the Copper Age. Scientists piece the evidence together to create a profile of the frozen man.

This nonfiction read is great from young investigators. The will definitely keep the readers interest until the very end when the cause of the frozen man's death is reported.

I regret that I discovered this book so late in the school year. My students and I loved this book. I will definitely read it to my 6th graders when we study the transition between the Stone, Copper, and Bronze Ages.

A 1918 war, this is a good book to read to students so they can have an understanding of what the purple death was about. Some children do not know what it is.

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