Monday, March 16, 2009

Almost Astronauts: the Story of the "Mercury 13" Women

Almost Astronauts: Thirteen Women Who Dared to Dream
by Tanya Lee Stone
Candlewick Press
133 pages

2 comments:

Mandy said...

I thought this book was very informative, well-documented, and a pleasure to read. The back matter is impressive, and I appreciate that the author addressed the misnomer of "Mercury 13."

The author did extensive and thorough research on the topic (as evidenced by the acknowledgements, author's note, source notes, etc.) including spending time with several of the "Mercury 13" women. Informational books for children often seem to be just a rewrite of books on the same topic for adults, without any additional research. I appreciate that Tanya Lee Stone put just as much time and effort into researching and writing this book as the author of a book for adults would have. It is not just a rewritten book for kids, but truly a new and important book on the topic.

Kris said...

I also enjoyed reading this book, I found it very interesting, and it does have an impressive list of resources at the end, but I have to admit it seemed a little one-sided in its point of view. Perhaps having interviews from NASA officials of the time, and providing "the other side of the story" would have added a little balance.