Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition

This is both a realistic and an optimistic presentation of the difficulties Black women encountered throughout their lives. The main focus is on women who worked in both the aircraft and the space industries. For most of their careers, these women worked harder and were paid less than their white counterparts. So many presented were polite to their abusers, a necessary, but painful response. This book begins almost a hundred years ago, and some progress has been made in the United States, but equality is far from achieved.

Great history, and I enjoyed that the book centered on specific women's stories. Not a totally riveting read, but I also appreciated the way the book highlighted ongoing and consistent discrimination.

Read this after seeing the movie as I had read in a review that the part about one of the women having to run to another toilet block was not true. (She actually stood her ground to the white women in the toilet and said - "Any of you got a problem with this?" and no-one answered her back!)
This young readers edition was great - enough history and mathematics to keep you interested and not bored and the part where the astronaut Glenn asks for "the girl to check the figures" is true.
I think it is a wonderful book to show how you can overcome difficulties if you persevere - the tale of one of the girls putting the "Coloureds Only" sign from the Cafe in her bag for 9 months straight is fantastic.
Highly recommended.

Hidden Figures is the story of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden who during one of the most turbulent periods in US history defied expectations and became respected workers in what became NASA. Their expertise in mathematics made them invaluable during the period of World War II and the space race of the 1960s. Their lives were not without strife as they survived family tragedies and worked with people who still harbored ill will toward African-Americans during the birth of the Civil Rights Movement.

This was an interesting story. It would have been better reading had it been told from the point of view of the women involved, telling their own stories rather than as a dry depiction of historical show more events. Otherwise this was a well written book detailing a unique group of women who succeeded in what was considered a man's world during a time when African-Americans lacked the respect of their peers. show less

Much more history than the movie could hold, but I didn't get to know the characters much better. The author had great access to oral history and archives, but could have used a bit of editing in deciding how much detail to include, or not. I think most filmgoers will be surprised by how less novel-like, and more footnoted history, this book turned out to be.

Bought this for the grandkids and read it first to check out the reading level. Found it to be well written and I look forward to giving it to the children. It's hard to explain how different the world was in the 1950s-60s when segregation was the norm in many of the states. and this book does it very well by introducing you to the 'computers', the lady mathematicians. Reading about their struggles for equality and their optimism and drive to better themselves, their families and all the African American people, is very inspirational. Children reading it will learn that dreams along with hard work will ensure they accomplish their goals in life.

Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.
This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.