Space

Rating:
Summary: Funny, Moving
Review: A great memoir of Jesse Lee's Life. The book is both funny and moving. But in the end it seems rushed and like she just wants to end the book. All in all I would highly recomend this book.

Rating:
Summary: An absorbing, fast read
Review: I found this book to be a captivating, honest look at coming of age in a family that is coming apart. Jesse and her sister are forced to grow up far beyond their years in order to attempt to hold their family together against the backdrop of the United States' race for space exploration. The author's descriptions of the various friends, pets, and neighbors who live and work within her Florida neighborhood are priceless. I finished it in two nights!

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books you will ever read!
Review: My mom first brought me this book and when I saw the title and cover I thought to myself "this is going to be one the most dull books I will ever read ! But then, of course ,I started reading it and I could not stop. It was one of the best and interesting book I have ever read. in this book they talk about all the space missions but there is more to it than that! It also talks about a girls life from the time she was a little girl till she is an adult ! If you like biographies then you will just adore this book!

Rating:
Summary: FLorida in the 60's, pure nostalgia for those who lived then
Review: Perhaps it was because this book brought back so many memories of growing up in the 60's - or perhaps it was because this writer's words and storytelling skills are superb- for whatever reason, I absolutely loved this book. Kercheval moved to Florida as a child and found it an exotic place at first, with the endless vistas of sand and sea and the pastel colored houses. But there was a darker side to life in Florida, including a mother who began to fade away emotionally, getting lost in her own emotional darkness, an older sister who was forced to assume her mother's responsibilities and a father who couldn't face his wife's illness. Although I'm sure many readers will nod their heads in recognition of the major events (the Space Race, President Kennedy, the public fascination with Jacqueline Kennedy) which Kercheval recounts from that period, she also reveals the unique, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, life in her family. She writes so vividly and so well that I didn't want this book to end. I felt close to each member of her family, flaws and all. But mostly I felt entranced by the special world Kercheval brought to life.

Rating:
Summary: Reading this book is like being there.
Review: Reading this book is just like being there. I am nearly the same age as Jesse Kercheval is and I loved her detail of the space center area. Our family vacations there occasionally. The stories in the book of her growing up were fascinating, and I found I could'nt put the book down, that's rare for me, and I read a lot. When an event such as a space launch took place that she wrote about I thought to myself that I was doing this or that, and where. It was great to get the perspective of a girl growing up in a time and place that will never happen again, and very humorous also, I laughed and laughed at times. Jesse, thanks for this treasure.