amazing!!! cute illustrations and nice to look through, will definitely look at it again, i liked everything about this

'Blast Off: How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America into Space' by Suzanne Slade with illustrations by Sally W. Comport is a picture book about a rocket scientist in the early days of the space program.

Mary Sherman grew up in North Dakota in the 1920s and found a passion in school in science and chemistry. That led her to a field where she had to prove her intelligence.

I found this biography fascinating and I loved the illustrations. I think this would be a good read for a young dreamer.

I received a review copy from Astra Publishing House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for books about women who were essential to our scientific history, add this one to your list. Most of us haven't heard of Mary Sherman Morgan but after this quick read we'll all understand just how essential she was to the success of the space program. We learn about her less traditional educational background and how her own confidence allowed her to overcome her limitations. The illustrations are heavily saturated in color and are a bit busy at times but overall this is a charming book worth the read.

This book is put together very well. I really liked the clear, concise text which told a very interesting story, as well as the amazingly detailed pictures that includes a lot of chemical formulas to help give the flavor of Mary's life work. I also appreciated the biographical pages in the back, which give a more in-depth look at her life, for older readers. This is a book that all ages can enjoy.
I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

Teachers using this title will certainly be pleased to find a new subject for classroom discussion of early women of space exploration. Mary's story of overcoming an adverse community that didn't believe that she could accomplish what she'd been tasked with will inspire, promote conversation, and allow students to better appreciate the role that women played in this pioneering field. Suzanne Slade is always a pleasure to read and this book lives up to her continually high standards. This is certainly a title you'll want to have on your library shelves this year.

What an amazingly wonderful biography. This book is about Mary Sherman Morgan and how she helped get America’s first satellite into space. She was just a country girl who loved chemistry and loved fuels. Without her hard work we could be very behind right now and maybe Neil Armstrong would not have been the first person to walk on the moon. One of my favorite things about this story is it is 100% about her. Within the story component it never mentions her marriage or her kids because they are secondary to what she accomplished for science. There is a tad bit about Mary‘s husband and her son in the info bits in the back and it was just the right amount. Overall this is an excellent book and another great read from Suzanne Slade.

Blast Off! is a children's picture book biography of Mary Sherman, a female chemist who created the fuel to launch rockets into space! With her love of science, during WWII she was able to get a job in a lab designing rocket fuels, but when the men came back from war her job no longer existed. At a time when popular belief was that science was for men Mary persevered against adversity and it paid off. As a Grade 3 teacher, I could definitely see this book in my classroom library. I think it would be a great opening for lessons on STEM, growth mindset and biographies. I would recommend this book for teachers, librarians and families of children in the 4-12 age range, especially for young readers who could benefit from reading books about strong, female role models. I so appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this great book!

Blast Off! How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America into Space is a well, written, concise story of yet another unknown woman who has made significant contributions to science. I love reading these kind of stories to my students. It is also a story of resilience. Mary didn't attend school until she was eight years old and didn't know how to read when she started. Students will be able to relate to this especially after these past two years of attending school during the pandemic.
Suzanne Slade writes in a very easy to understand manner and the illustrations by Sally Wern Comport are beautiful. I love the use of chemistry symbols and math equations in the illustrations.
The book includes a timeline and the back matter gives more details about her life and information about the space program she was involved in and an author's note.
I highly recommend his book for any school library collection.
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mary Sherman overcame tremendous odds to become the world’s first female rocket scientist. She didn’t attend school until a sheriff demanded it: managing to keep up with her farm chores, catch up to her classmates and graduate valedictorian. When lack of funds forced her to drop out of college she got a job at a wartime weapons factory, but when male soldiers returned she had to find new work. Spectacular, vibrant illustrations and exciting book design complement the compelling text, as Mary talks her way into a job and becomes the lead scientist developing rocket fuel for the launch of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer One. The author's note gives details about the difficulty of finding reliable research and fills in some details about Mary's personal life. While there is little of her voice in this book, Mary's determination, positive spirit and intelligence show in her actions, and in the handsome and layered illustrations that are filled with both period detail and personality. Mary's fascination with chemistry and her problem solving skills come through clearly, as does the scientific necessity of trial and error. An inspiring read aloud or a great bedtime story for a child with a scientific bent. Back matter includes dates and details, more about the first satellite and its rocket, and a selected bibliography.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blast Off! is a wonderful example of a story finally being told. Well researched and written, this book beautifully captures the hard work and passion of Mary Sherman Morgan, a chemist looked down on for her sex. Children will love looking at the bright illustrations while learning about an incredible woman and her role in bringing about space travel.

This is an amazingly written and well researched book about one woman’s contribution to the space race. Beautiful pictures tell the story of Mary Sherman, who helped launch America into outer space. Story follows Mary through childhood to her career at the organization that would become NASA. Mary is a tenacious woman, who is determined to persevere and prove that women are just as capable as men in the scientific fields. The graphics are engaging and the writing is too!

This book was very informative. As a teacher, I love learning and this book taught me about some things I didn’t know! I also love how it highlights important women of science. ALL children need to have role models to look up to!
I loved the mixed media use in the illustrations, such as the transcript of the launch and the inclusion of a timeline. This made the illustrations very unique!
I definitely plan on purchasing a copy for my classroom!

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC!

Blast Off!: How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America Into Space exhibits sheer brilliance of three women in different professions: Mary Sherman (Obviously), Suzanne Slade and Sally W Comport. Mary Sherman, America's first female rocket scientist is a name of inspiration to countless young girls all over the world. At a time when the words 'Scientist' and 'Man' were practically synonyms, Mary dared to smash the gender barrier and pursued her love for Chemistry in a male dominated society. She had a bad start in life. Instead of sending her school, her family kept her close to carry out household chores. As a result, she was few years behind. The undaunted young woman graduated from high school as a valedictorian and fled from home to attend college. She went on to become the top scientist to work on a top secret project of creating the fuel to launch a rocket carrying America's first satellite into space. Her first few attempts met with failure resulting in criticism and soon her ability as a woman was being questioned. But the untiring perseverance and fierce determination of Mary was rewarded by success. I loved the book more than I imagined I would. It is a remarkable piece of work. Suzanne describes the powerful and inspiring tale with precision. The illustrations are captivating and portray various ranges of emotions perfectly. It provides informative details without being overbearing and evokes long lasting and strong emotions throughout the book. Definitely recommended! Deepest gratitude to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange of honest and unbiased opinion.

What a great non fiction picture book! I love seeing women in STEAM, it encourages more girls that science and science careers are for everyone. My favorite thing is that it showed her failing, and not giving up. Failure is a part of discovery and learning. Mary didn't give up and because of that, a rocket took a satellite up into space.

Blast Off! How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled American Into Space, written by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport, is an excellent uncovering of a woman whose contributions (like many women) have been overlooked for too long.

The text is well written, informative, concise but not overly sparse, and does an excellent job conveying Morgan’s determination, her intellect and perseverance, the obstacles she had to overcome, and her achievements. One of my favorite aspects of the story is how it doesn’t gloss over the way science works, which involves a lot of preparation via theory and calculation, followed often by a lot of failure in the experimental stages, and eventually (ideally) success.

The illustrations are fantastic, vivid, detailed, richly colored but not cartoony or gaudily bright, and especially making excellent use of light and overlayed images. Comport also does a great job of capturing Morgan’s various emotions, as with her beaming smile as she solves a problem or her nervous clutching of a slide rule as she watches a launch attempt.

The after-matter gives more details about her life, a timeline, more information about the early space program she was involved in, a small bibliography, and a few paragraphs about the author’s work on the book. Overall, it’s an excellent book that brings to light one of the far too many forgotten women (literally so, as one anecdote make clear, with a letter addressed to Morgan as “Dear Unknown Lady.” Strongly recommended. 4.5

I enjoyed this book! I knew 0 about Mary Morgan but loved learning about how much she helped us reach space. Girl power!!! I was impressed with her perseverance regardless of what men thought. Great read to encourage more girls to pursue science as a career.

Written as a historical fiction, Blast Off! Is the story of scientist Mary Sherman Morgan. Mary is credited as developing the fuel that first launched satellites into space. Mary's research spanned the 1950's and many believed her work should be handed over to a man.
Even with multiple launch failures, Mary did not give up. In 1958, powered by Mary’s hydyne fuel , the Juno I launched as America’s first satellite into the Earth's orbit.

The premise of this book is wonderful. Learning about women in science is always intriguing and inspiring. This I would most likely read with my 3rd graders. My only negative comment relates to the book format. The timeliness are not always orderly and I see duplicate,, but scattered, entries about the same events. The story does not flow well.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Blast Off! In exchange for my honest opinion.

#blastoff #Netgalley

Thanks to Netgalley and Calkins Creek for a free digital copy.

A wonderful book about Mary Sherman Morgan and her breaking the glass ceiling as a woman in the space industry enabling American to "blast off" into space. I thought it was the right balance of informative and entertaining with great illustrations.

Wow, beautiful illustrations! That was the first that caught my eye opening this book. I couldn’t wait to dive into this book, and it was really interesting to read! The book is about Mary Sherman Morgan who was the world’s first rocket scientist—a woman in science. If you are a fan of space and everything about it, this is for you.

Blast Off! is an inspiring, well-written and well-illustrated account of how Mary Sherman grew up poor and even uneducated until age 8 when the sheriff and social services get came to her house and declared that she belonged in school.. She gladly traded in her chores for the opportunity to learn. In high school she developed a love of chemistry, which led. to her going to college for two years (all she could afford) to pursue the study of chemistry. Later she got a job in a lab, working on a secret project to develop a fuel to launch a rocket carrying America's first satellite into space. After much trial and error, Mary's "concoction" worked. This interesting story is supported by useful, informative back matter that includes a timeline, more info about Mary, an author's note, and historical photographs. I enjoyed learning about Mary Sherman, and I think children would too. This is a fine title to use when studying scientists, women breaking boundaries, and problem solving.