Aston, D. H. (2008).The moon over star. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.


A young girl in 1969, dreams of going to the moon. . She and her cousins build a spaceship of their own to travel to space in their backyard. Of course it's not fancy enough to really take her to the moon. She witnesses the first steps man takes on the moon from her living room on the television. She wonders what President JFK would have thought about his dream coming true. It was too late now, with him being gone and all. Her Gramps, however, doesn't seem to concerned with the history being made. He complains about our country spending so much money to go to space when there are people who truly need the money right here on Earth. Mae, finally finds out why Gramps is so "tuned out" from what is happening and what his dreams were as a boy.


This story contains so much history there is so much a teacher could do with it. It is a book about dreams, history, work ethic, and different points of view towards history. There is a shifting point of view when the author shows how Mae feels about man going to the moon and how Gramps feels. Gran calls everyone in the house when the spaceship lands on the moon, but Gramps keeps right on working. Another example of this is when the Mae said, "My gramps thought the space program was a waste of money, but I knew he was praying for them too." 
The point of view throughout the whole story was first person, with Mae telling the story. She uses the words I and my to tell the story of her dreams and how she felt on that hot summer's day in 1969.


I believe children would enjoy this book because what child doesn't want to go to the moon at some point during their life? I know I did. The book contains real events which could lead the teacher to have students do a research project after reading and then come back and read the story again. While reading the first time they could make notes of other historical events Mae speaks of and choose teams to research each topic. After the research is complete students would share what they found and then go back and read The Moon Over Star again. The research would help the students understand the time period Mae was living in and how she felt about the events and how they would feel had they lived in 1969.


BIG question: Describe your dreams and how you will strive to make your dreams become reality.
What do you think Gramps dream was and why did he not make his dreams come true?