Rousing encouragement for readers—especially math-minded ones—to follow their dreams.
An account of the life of the first female electrical engineer in America.
Edith Clarke was born on a farm in Maryland in 1883, one of nine children. Her father died when she was 7, and when her mother died five years later, her uncle sent her to boarding school, where she was meant to learn “manners and music.” Instead, Edith studied algebra and geometry. When she inherited money left to her by her parents, she enrolled in Vassar College, graduating with a degree in mathematics and astronomy. A critical illness convinced Edith to go after her dreams, and she earned an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but no one was willing to hire a woman engineer. She worked during the day computing calculations for a company building power lines, and she spent her evenings studying electrical current load in wires, which led to an invention, the Clarke Calculator—and a job as an engineer. Skillfully told and illustrated, this story is full of details and depth. The full-color images catch the eye and playfully include mathematical puzzles. Edith’s quotes are interspersed throughout, highlighting her love of math and her determination to succeed in a traditionally male field. This one will inspire and validate any readers who love mathematics and calculations, especially anyone who has felt marginalized within STEM fields. Edith and most characters present White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Rousing encouragement for readers—especially math-minded ones—to follow their dreams. (author’s note; diagrams; timeline; glossary; information on other women mathematicians, engineers, and inventors; bibliography; picture credits) (Picture-book biography. 6-9)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66268-006-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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