Blast Off!

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Wow! I LOVE this book and so does my daughter! Mary Sherman Morgan was interested in all things chemistry and follows her dreams to find her career. She developed a new rocket fuel that helps propel America into space, and she powers through the male-dominated field on her wits and knowledge.

It's just such a wonderful example of how hard work and determination lead to success. If things are hard, should you give up on your dream? No! If no one has ever done what you want to do, does that mean it can't be done? No! Mary was a trailblazer in so many ways, and this book does a wonderful job of making her achievements accessible to young people and still factual and impressive. No matter where you begin in life, you can reach your dreams, and you can do it with grace and dignity. I couldn't love this book more if I tried. The illustrations are interesting and eye-catching, the message is powerful, and the character is a role model to underdogs everywhere.

This book tells an important story of Mary Sherman’s contribution into developing rocket fuel. I really loved the illustrations and the story was told beautifully. As the book mentions, there are so many forgotten women in STEM, and books like these really help bring to light so much history we wouldn’t have known otherwise. I highly recommend this book.

A stellar biography of Mary Sherman, the US' first female rocket scientist and pivotal player in the Space Race. Wonderfully illustrated and inspirational, this book would make a fabulous addition to any classroom and school library. Abridged biography, timeline, and further information on the space program's early rockets. Bibliography provides sources for further reading.

Like Hidden Figures, this is another story of a woman that is forgotten about by the space community because, well, she was a woman.
In fact, the author had so much trouble finding out this *very* important woman, that she almost gave up, but then she thought she would just keep going, and see what she could find.

Before Mary Sherman Morgan designed the fuel for the rockets that took satellites into space, they kept blowing up on launch. She had to finally figure out just the right mix of fuels to get it to work, and work well.

Amazing woman, she started school when she was eight, because her parents wanted her to work on the farm. It wasn’t until a sheriff came and forced the family to send her to school that she went.

She financed her time in college, until she ran out of money and had to take a job to survive, but fortunately it was in science, and from there she was able to work her way up to working for North American Aviation.

Even though this is just a picture book, I would highly recommend checking it out, and reading her story. Her son, Gorget D. Morgan, also wrote a book about her, which is mentioned in the bibliography called “Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America’s First Female Rocket Scientist”.

But, as the author points out, even Wernher von Braun didn’t know her name, and sent her a letter of gratitude which began “Dear Unknown Lady”.

Highly recommend this one.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Say yes to gender empowerment and let's provide such books to educate the growing young generation!

Female child education is still a problem in many parts of the world and even if they are qualified as much they are glared upon when they apply for some particular jobs which many feel are fit only for men. But this is the kind of story which happened amidst gender discrimination and pressure that proved when one believes in oneself there's nothing that can actually stop us from achieving our dreams.

Love the illustrations so much. They do stand out.

A must read.

Thank you, author and the publisher, for the advance reading copy.