Rebecca Rissman

As NASA raced to the moon, a number of African-American women played key roles throughout the process. This is a middle grade book that details the life and careers of these ladies. Overall, this was a well researched and written book. It seemed to be a good mix of education and storytelling.

There have been several books and a popular movie featuring these mostly forgotten African-American women. Capstone's title is part of their narrative nonfiction series, Encounter, and introduces readers to a variety of women from the history of the space race.

From the exciting first moments of the story, when astronaut John Glenn insisted on Katherine Johnson checking the numbers for his flight into space, each of the women is profiled and their contributions shown. Rissman sets the stage show more for the women who started out as "human computers" and then continued to be involved in science. Miriam Mann, a talented mathematician, fought against segregation in small ways as she developed the math to support space flights. Mary Jackson spoke out against racism and became part of the staff working on wind tunnels and an engineer in her own right. Dorothy Vaughan managed the human computers in West Area Computing, where the African-American women were segregated, but she also worked to keep her staff relevant and learning so that they would continue to have jobs as computers took over the work they had been doing. Annie Easley was a mathematician who also became a computer programmer. Christine Darden was part of the second generation of African-American women working at NASA, but still faced discrimination. The story ends with an encapsulated view of the moon landing, more information about Katherine Johnson and the use of her math in future flights, and a final reflection on the contributions and futures of the women featured.

Although none of the women were acknowledged at the time, they had a major role not only in the space race and development of computing but also in the battle of African-Americans and women against prejudice. The epilogue talks to several women involved in NASA about their experiences, how sexism and racism has improved -and how it hasn't. Back matter includes a timeline, glossary, critical thinking questions, and resources.

Verdict: This is a good choice for middle grade readers who aren't up to handling the more complex and intense books written on this subject but are still interested in history and science. It did feel a little disjointed, jumping from one woman to another, but the episodic nature may make it easier for kids to read.

ISBN: 9780515799641; Published January 2018 by Capstone; Review copy provided by the publisher; Donated to the library show less

Description
Paperback, 114 pages
Expected publication: February 1st 2018, by Capstone Press
ISBN 1515799638 (ISBN13: 9781515799634)
Edition Language English
For Ages: 8-12

Four female African-American mathematicians made it possible to launch US rockets—and astronauts—into space. Hidden Women is the thrilling tale of how each woman contributed, the struggles and resistance each experienced, and the amazing results.

Author Bio:

Rebecca Rissman can usually be found at her laptop, hard at work on a show more new book for children. She’s written over 100 nonfiction books for young readers about science, math, and history.

MY REVIEW:

Thank you Netgalley and Capstone Press for allowing me an ARC for reading and providing an honest review.

I found this book incredibly well-written with the exception of very small issues that can easily be fixed. These issues did not take away from the informative, fast-read, and the great job Rebecca Rissman did chronicling the lives of four particular African American female mathematicians working for NASA during a time of civil rights unrest, equal rights differences and the cold war.

Due out February 1st, 2018, published by Capstone Press.

The narrative non-fiction work targets middle-grade readers (ages 8 to 12), but this could be a good read for anyone age 8 and older. I immensely enjoyed reading about these amazing women and their careers from beginning through changes in society and NASA’s inner structures, to their conclusive accomplishments accumulated to retirement. The treatment of people because of race and/or color, and sex has always struck me as such a huge waste of time. Imagine what this world could have accomplished without these barricades slowing discoveries down. While I was impressed with all that these intelligent women accomplished, I also felt somewhat saddened that each accomplishment could have been so much more if they had been able to surpass such obstacles as race and inequality, or not have to deal with them at all.

It’s a great book and should be read by everyone. Sited nicely, extra material at the back of the book, questions, etc. show less

Hidden Women is about African-American women at NACA,now NASA, who were human computers. Human computers were people who did complex calculations for NACA(National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) by hand. They were often taken for granted and rarely allowed to do the same as their white peers. Then in 1958 President Eisenhower changed NACA to NASA(National Aeronautics and Space Administration), showing that the space race was becoming a priority to the U.S. When President Kennedy was show more elected he gave a speech declaring that he wanted to safely send an american to the moon within the next decade. That energized these human computers to work even harder and pursue their own dreams and careers. Their journey was hard because they were female but made even harder because they were African-American.However, they overcome their challenges and inspired more women to become mathematicians and engineers. They proved that no matter what color your skin was or whether you were male or female you can still send a rocket to space.
I liked this book because I learned something.I have seen the movie Hidden Figure which was based off the true events in this book. It was interesting to learn about the women called human computers and their struggles to reach their goals while, for some of them, raising a family at the same time. I also learned that NASA had previously been known as NACA. I thought NASA had always been NASA and was surprised to learn otherwise. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about the women behind Nasa or just NASA in general. I really enjoyed this book. show less