LIFTOFF

Written with the clearly stated intent of inspiring readers to enter public service, this profile presents Glenn’s achievements, both on and off the planet, as the direct results of a lifelong commitment to larger causes. Opening with Glenn’s small-town upbringing (amid “a wholesome mixture of patriotism and a strong sense of community”), and closing with his 2004 testimony against the proposed flag-desecration amendment, Mitchell follows his career from pilot to astronaut to politician back to 1998, at the age of 77, astronaut again. Free of any reference to the “Right Stuff,” and so focused on the supposed scientific rationale of his return to space that its self-indulgent aspect goes likewise unmentioned, this cannot be characterized as an unbiased portrait. But Glenn’s family is present enough here to give the Senator a bit of human dimension, and in the end, he is an authentic American hero, whose exploits require no exaggeration to impress. Illustrated with plenty of large black-and-white photos and punctuated with motivational quotes, this presents a simplified but appealing alternative to the plethora of existing assignment-fodder biographies. (multimedia resource list) (Nonfiction. 10-12)