sc104906's review against another edition
3.0
Nonfiction book that explores the beginning of space navigation. It talks about the challenges of the science and those seeking to go to space. It addresses the under-appreciated role of women.
i_will_papercut_a_bish's review against another edition
5.0
Rebecca Siegel's book on of the untold side of the space race is a brutally honest and thoughtful examination of the determination and hard work of thirteen qualified women who were turned away from participation in the space program due to backward thinking and gender discrimination, and the parallel (contrasting) journeys of the men of Mercury 7.
I read it in one sitting, pulled in by the personal stories and fascinating anecdotes collected by the author, detailing behind-the-scenes training, the pilot's life experiences, and the hearing where two pilots fought for the right to be fairly considered for the US space program.
As an aside, I appreciated the author's note at the beginning of the book that noted the racial privilege afforded even to the shunned women pilots, and the candy-coating of the racist behavior of several of the male pilots of Mercury 7 (as these are facts often omitted and overlooked in most history books).
This review is of an ARC given to me by the author, and I look forward to purchasing the book for my own daughters (who are long-time NASA fans). I recommend it highly to parents, educators, and librarians looking to round out their understanding of space race history, and to fans of books like CODE GIRLS.
I read it in one sitting, pulled in by the personal stories and fascinating anecdotes collected by the author, detailing behind-the-scenes training, the pilot's life experiences, and the hearing where two pilots fought for the right to be fairly considered for the US space program.
As an aside, I appreciated the author's note at the beginning of the book that noted the racial privilege afforded even to the shunned women pilots, and the candy-coating of the racist behavior of several of the male pilots of Mercury 7 (as these are facts often omitted and overlooked in most history books).
This review is of an ARC given to me by the author, and I look forward to purchasing the book for my own daughters (who are long-time NASA fans). I recommend it highly to parents, educators, and librarians looking to round out their understanding of space race history, and to fans of books like CODE GIRLS.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
5.0
This book does a great job of telling the story of the first astronauts and the women who fought to be included in that list. Siegel tells the story (mostly) in alternating chapters of the all-male Mercury 7 crew and the 13 women who strove to be considered for the astronaut program at the same time. Siegel humanizes everyone in this book; she portrays the men as the men they were rather than the golden American heroes they're usually depicted as, and she shows the women as they were: hard-working, jaded, and ambitious. Neither group is really portrayed as negative. The struggles of these women are brought into sharp focus, and Siegel outlines what else still needs to be done. Siegel also makes a point to explain that this fight is a white one. She doesn't focus on how much more difficult it was for minorities, but she doesn't ignore it either. She makes everyone's struggle clear.
kateteaching7and8's review against another edition
4.0
@kidlitexchange
Thank you to @scholasticinc for sharing an advance copy of To Fly Among the Stars by Rebecca Siegel with the #kidlitexchange network. This book was released March 3, 2020. All opinions are my own.
To Fly Among the Stars offers a new look at the space race between the USA and Russia during the 1960s. The book details how NASA selected their first astronauts and the progress of the US space program during the 1960s. Chapters alternate between the male astronauts' progress and what female aviators were doing to try to get into astronautics.
This book is full of detail and very well researched. I learned so much about the space program, the first astronauts, and the women who dared to try to break the glass ceiling and become astronauts. I have to admit that I was a little throne by the novel as the ARC I received had the subtitle: The Hidden Story of the Fight for Women Astronauts. While the book does tell the story of the fight for women astronauts, it gives equal time and information on the original Mercury 7 and the NASA space program in general. Based on what I read, I felt it was more a story of the US space program which is why I was happy to see that the subtitle on Goodreads was different and more fitting, I believe, to the content of the novel: A True Story of the Women and Men Who Tested to Become America's First Astronauts. I liked that I was able to learn so much from this book and that the author shared both successes and failures and positive and negative character traits and episodes. This book is listed as being written for the 8-12 market; however, I feel like the narrative voice of the book and it's topic may interest a slightly older reader. I would recommend To Fly Among the Stars to those who read and enjoyed Steve Sheinkin's Born to Fly or Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures.
Thank you to @scholasticinc for sharing an advance copy of To Fly Among the Stars by Rebecca Siegel with the #kidlitexchange network. This book was released March 3, 2020. All opinions are my own.
To Fly Among the Stars offers a new look at the space race between the USA and Russia during the 1960s. The book details how NASA selected their first astronauts and the progress of the US space program during the 1960s. Chapters alternate between the male astronauts' progress and what female aviators were doing to try to get into astronautics.
This book is full of detail and very well researched. I learned so much about the space program, the first astronauts, and the women who dared to try to break the glass ceiling and become astronauts. I have to admit that I was a little throne by the novel as the ARC I received had the subtitle: The Hidden Story of the Fight for Women Astronauts. While the book does tell the story of the fight for women astronauts, it gives equal time and information on the original Mercury 7 and the NASA space program in general. Based on what I read, I felt it was more a story of the US space program which is why I was happy to see that the subtitle on Goodreads was different and more fitting, I believe, to the content of the novel: A True Story of the Women and Men Who Tested to Become America's First Astronauts. I liked that I was able to learn so much from this book and that the author shared both successes and failures and positive and negative character traits and episodes. This book is listed as being written for the 8-12 market; however, I feel like the narrative voice of the book and it's topic may interest a slightly older reader. I would recommend To Fly Among the Stars to those who read and enjoyed Steve Sheinkin's Born to Fly or Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures.
shayemiller's review against another edition
4.0
I was very surprised at how engaging this book was -- all about America's space program and the aviators who set its course. There's amazing focus on how difficult it was for women to be involved with NASA and so many personal details about various people who came in and out of the picture over the years. Also, I didn't realize this until after I finished the book, but Mercury 13's story is told in a recent Netflix documentary and a play based on Cobb's life, "They Promised Her the Moon." So I hope to check that out very soon!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
ashleyreads88's review against another edition
In the time period in which this book is about, women were not supposed to be pilots, successful pilots at that with some having logged more flight hours in their flight logs than men. I wish this book focused more on the women from Dr. Lovelace's Lovelace’s Woman in Space Program rather than the men. I loved reading about the women and was heartbroken when Lovelace's program was canceled. Lovelace's Woman in Space program showed that women could do what the men did and sometimes even better than them. I felt that this book did a great job of highlighting the unfair sexism that the 13 women endured.
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