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Nonfiction Review: Almost Astronauts



Bibliographic-
Stone, Tanya Lee. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream.
Candlewick Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7636-3611-1
Summary/ Critical analysis-
Almost Astronauts chronicles the tale of 13 women who attempted to break into the space
program and were blocked multiple times by rules and prejudice despite showing the required
skills in a battery of tests. Stone weaves together personal information about the women
with photos, cartoons, ads, and letters to create a photo-essay that reads like a novel.
Clever chapter headings (“T Minus Thirty-Eight Years”, “Mommy’s Going to the Moon!”),
along with subtitles and dates guide readers through a timeline of events, while source notes,
a “further reading” list, and references allow for fact-checking, dialogue sources, and more
research opportunities. The layout balances texts and images nicely to break up the
information into more manageable pieces.


This is not a book to fact-pick from, but one that invites a cover to cover reading to learn
about the many struggles these women faced, as well as a triumph as many of them were
able to see the launch of the first woman commander of a space shuttle in 1995. Eileen
Collins even reviewed this book and her comments appear on the back cover.
Stone’s depth of research and passion on this topic are evident, and her compelling
storytelling style makes you want to keep reading. She allows readers to feel empathy for
all these women, and I got quite emotional reading about them finally getting to see women
in the space program. Young readers will find this book easy to read, but will learn just as
much from it as if it were written for grown-ups.
Awards and Review Excerpts-


Robert F. Sibert Medal
NCTE Obis Pictus Honor
Outstanding Science Trade Book
ALA: Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
“The story of the ultimately unsuccessful effort to get women into NASA's Mercury
astronaut training program is meticulously researched and thrillingly told by Stone using
first- and second-hand sources, including interviews with many of the women who
participated in Lovelace's tests, and a set of outstanding historical photographs.”
The Horn Book,  2010
“The chatty, immediate style ( Picture this ) and full-page photos make for a fast read,
and the crucial civil-rights history will stay with readers.” Book List Online, 2009
Connections-
  • Note from the author and poems about the 13 “almost astronauts”:
http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763636118.ban.1.pdf
  • Also by Tanya Lee Stone: Courage Has No Color, The True Story Of The
Triple Nickles: America's First Black Paratroopers

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