Thoroughly researched, creatively presented, inspiring real-life role models for girls who love math.
This collective verse biography “honors women who used math to frame and solve problems, fix things, or understand the size of the universe.”
Atkins opens with German Caroline Herschel (1750-1848), the first woman to discover a comet, and closes with American Vera Rubin (1928-2016), an astronomer who proved the existence of dark matter. Throughout, she illustrates how each woman faced personal obstacles as well as gender bias but never allowed “insults or lack of faith to stop” her. Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) revolutionized the nursing profession through use of medical statistics, and Hertha Marks Ayrton (1854-1923) became the first female electrical engineer, registering 26 patents; both women were English. American geologist Marie Tharp (1920-2006) helped develop the first map of the entire ocean floor while her countrywoman mathematician Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) endured segregation as she calculated trajectories for NASA. At the U.S. Census Bureau, statistician Edna Lee Paisano (1948-2014) used math to “give everyone a fair chance.” With the exception of African American Johnson and Nez Perce Paisano, the women profiled are white. Presented chronologically in engaging verse with a feminist tone, the text artfully weaves scientific data and history with imagined “dialogue and sensory detail based on what’s known about the time, places, and questions” of these remarkable math mavens. A line drawing introduces each woman’s biography, and the “Women Who Widened Horizons” section summarizes their achievements.
Thoroughly researched, creatively presented, inspiring real-life role models for girls who love math. (author’s note, selected bibliography) (Verse biography. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6068-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Navigating this stunning novel requires thought and concentration, but it’s well worth the effort.
Returning to themes she explored so affectingly in Moon Over Manifest (2011), Newbery Medalist Vanderpool delivers another winning picaresque about memories, personal journeys, interconnectedness—and the power of stories.
Thirteen-year-old Jack enters boarding school in Maine after his mother’s death at the end of World War II. He quickly befriends Early Auden, a savant whose extraordinary facility with numbers allows him to “read” a story about “Pi” from the infinite series of digits that follow 3.14. Jack accompanies Early in one of the school crew team’s rowing boats on what Jack believes is his friend’s fruitless quest to find a great bear allegedly roaming the wilderness—and Early’s brother, a legendary figure reportedly killed in battle. En route, Early spins out Pi’s evolving saga, and the boys encounter memorable individuals and adventures that uncannily parallel those in the stories. Vanderpool ties all these details, characters, and Jack’s growing maturity and self-awareness together masterfully and poignantly, though humor and excitement leaven the weighty issues the author and Jack frequently pose. Some exploits may strain credulity; Jack’s self-awareness often seems beyond his years, and there are coincidences that may seem too convenient. It’s all of a piece with Vanderpool’s craftsmanship. Her tapestry is woven and finished off seamlessly. The ending is very moving, and there’s a lovely, last-page surprise that Jack doesn’t know but that readers will have been tipped off about.
Navigating this stunning novel requires thought and concentration, but it’s well worth the effort. (author’s note, with questions and answers, list of resources) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-385-74209-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A promising debut.
The horrors of the Guatemalan civil war are filtered through the eyes of a boy coming of age.
Set in Chopán in 1981, this verse novel follows the life of Carlos, old enough to feed the chickens but not old enough to wring their necks as the story opens. Carlos’ family and other villagers are introduced in early poems, including Santiago Luc who remembers “a time when there were no soldiers / driving up in jeeps, holding / meetings, making / laws, scattering / bullets into the trees, / hunting guerillas.” On an errand for his mother when soldiers attack, Carlos makes a series of decisions that ultimately save his life but leave him doubting his manliness and bravery. An epilogue of sorts helps tie the main narrative to the present, and the book ends on a hopeful note. In her debut, Brown has chosen an excellent form for exploring the violence and loss of war, but at times, stylistic decisions (most notably attempts at concrete poetry) appear to trump content. While some of the individual poems may be difficult for readers to follow and the frequent references to traditional masculinity may strike some as patriarchal, the use of Spanish is thoughtful, as are references to local flora and fauna. The overall effect is a moving introduction to a subject seldom covered in fiction for youth.
A promising debut. (glossary, author Q&A) (Verse/historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6516-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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