Footprints on the Moon (by Mark Haddon)

The title of the book FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON so appropriately captures the fascination the boy has with the moon, and the effect the Apollo 11 landing had on him. It's the same fascination that anyone living through this time felt as they watched those men walk on the surface of the moon. Something that seemed so unreal was actually made real by the presence of those footprints, and the fact that they still remain makes it all the more amazing.

The boy seems like so many young kids in the '60s who caught the space fervor. His story is told with contagious enthusiasm, in language that is descriptive, in a kid-like way, yet filled with specific details that most space-crazed kids would know. The illustrations are reminiscent of those in the Dick and Jane books, though with a hazy, dream-like overlay that makes this all look like a memory. And, as we learn in the end, that is exactly what it has been for the man who, still fascinated with the moon, has told this story of his youth while staring out his bedroom window at the nighttime sky.