Elizabeth Dana Jaffe

This biography was very interesting. It first captured the reader’s interest by asking questions. Then, it proceeded to inform the reader about how Ellen Ochoa became an astronaut. She was the first Hispanic woman to go into space. This book was very interesting. It did not have too many words per page, which kept it interesting. I learned from this book and I’m sure many other readers will as well. I liked this book because of the examples it gave to support the statements the author show more made. For example, the author was discussing how everything in the space shuttle floated around—even Ellen Ochoa. Following that, a sentence read, “She strapped herself down to exercise, eat, and play her flute.” I think this helps the reader connect to what they are reading. Every reader can relate to one of those activities, which allows them to see how strange is must be to strap yourself down to do that. I also liked how the picture right next to that page had Ellen Ochoa strapped down to the ground and playing her flute. I thought that was an important picture to have. It allows the reader to have a visual of what the author means when she says, “strapped down.”
Another thing I enjoyed was the beginning of the book. I was not looking forward to reading a biography, but this caught my attention. It began by asking the reader a series of questions. For example, “Where would you like to go in space?” I thought this was a neat way of beginning the book instead of beginning with facts about Ellen Ochoa’s life. Overall, I think the main message was to persevere and never give up on your dreams. Ellen Ochoa may have been denied at first, but kept trying and did not give up. She was able to live her dream and go into space three times! I think this is important lesson for everyone to learn. People give up on their dreams very easily if the journey is too difficult. I think we need to learn from this book and keep pushing through even when we want to quit. Overall, I thought this was a good and informative book about Ellen Ochoa’s life. I think it important for people to study other people’s lives. I would recommend this book to someone who was thinking about becoming an astronaut, loved space, or anyone who was interested. show less

This book is appropriate for grades 3-5. Sojourner Truth was born a slave in Ulster County, NY who was moved around from several different masters before se ran away to become a free women. She was called Belle and she spoke dutch and later learned English. She had parents and sibling but they were sold off to other slave owners in NY state. Belle was forced to marry a man she did not love and had children with this man. She could not stand her master anymore and ran away to a neighboring show more farm where they kept her safe. She left her children behind. When she found out they her old master was selling her 5 year old son to a master in another state she went to court because this was against the law. Slaves could not be sold between states. She won her case which was a huge success. Changing her name to Sojourner, she stood up for rights and freedom. This book takes you through the life of a women who never stopped fighting for what they believed in.
Teachers could use this book to:
-Talk about slavery in NY state. Ask children if there was slavery in NY, have them write in down and then have them write another response after learning about Truth.
-Ask student to write down what it must of feel like to be a slave. show less

This rookie biography is an easy read about the first Hispanic female astronaut. Although this book is a biography, I feel it lacks in the feel of a biography, as far as the wealth of information is concerned.

This biography introduces the Hispanic American astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who studied math and science to become an engineer and went on to conduct experiments and work in space to fulfill her dream of being an astronaut.