Category Archives: Biography

Review: Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly

Biography, Blogger's Favorites, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation Into Space (Young Readers Edition)
Margot Lee Shetterly
HarperCollins
Published November 29, 2016

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition

The uplifting, amazing true story—a New York Times bestseller

This edition of Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed book is perfect for young readers. It is the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program. Now a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.

Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

My Review

This book has been on my reading list for a long time. Since we’re facing more explicit attempts to erase the achievements of women and BIPOC, I wanted to take the chance to read and talk about this book.

One amazing thing about the book is that the author, Margot Lee Shetterly, grew up in Hampton, Virginia, where these women worked and lived. She knew many of them. I imagine it must have been really cool to compile the information and create this book telling the stories of people she knew herself.

In addition to doing a great job laying out the development of the space program alongside other historical events, such as the Civil Rights Movement, Hidden Figures (Young Readers Edition) also has some great resources in the back. A timeline shows how the space program developed with other major events listed. This reinforces the narrative’s work, anchoring these women’s lives in the larger story of American history. A glossary defines words younger readers may be less familiar with. A chapter-by-chapter list of sources makes it easy for readers who want more information on a particular event to know where to look. The backmatter also includes a section listing books for further reading.

The biographies of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden are the focus of the book. Shetterly shares information about their education, family life, careers, and their roles in the space program.

I wish I’d read the book before watching the movie so that this was my first interaction with the information, but I’m still really glad I read the book. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the space program, Black history, women’s history, or careers in mathematics.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief reference to marriage and family.

Spiritual Content
I think there was brief reference to attending church.

Violent Content
References to the Civil Rights Movement and sit-ins. Brief reference to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby

Biography, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, a Legacy of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History (Adapted for Young Adults)
Karen Valby
Delacorte Press
Published January 14, 2025

Penguin/Random House | Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Swans of Harlem (Adapted for Young Adults)

A full accounting of five incredibly talented Black ballerinas from The Dance Theater of Harlem, founding members among them, that illuminates their hard-fought, historic, and overlooked contributions to the world of classical dance at a time when racism shut out Black dancers from major dance companies.

It was true until only recently, their past achievements had been erased—that’s what happened to five Black ballerinas, members of the groundbreaking Dance Theater of Harlem. At the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, Lydia Abarca, who dance critics praised effusively, was the first Black prima ballerina of this major dance company, performing lead roles in the most iconic ballets. She was also the first Black ballerina to grace the cover of Dance magazine.

Alongside fellow founding members Sheila Rohan and Gayle McKinney-Griffith, and first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells, these swans of Harlem shone a bright light on the depth of Black professional classical dancers. Their grit, determination, and exquisite artistry propelled them to dizzying heights, but over the decades, their trailblazing and triumphs were largely forgotten.

Now these ballerinas and longtime friends are giving voice to their stories on and off stage—reclaiming a past so that it is finally recorded and acknowledged.

My Review

I couldn’t put this incredible book down. As a former dancer myself, I love reading about dance history. This book is packed with personal stories and experiences centering on five Black ballerinas who had ground-breaking careers beginning in the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

One of the things the book does so beautifully is to hold many things concurrently. For example, it acknowledges the five dancers’ love and appreciation for Misty Copeland and her career but also respects their frustration at the way their own achievements have been erased.

The book celebrates the incredible achievements of the Dance Theatre of Harlem but doesn’t shy away from the flaws or harm that existed in the company, whether through colorism or harsh criticism from its director.

Really, the story continually centers the stories of these five incredible women. It follows the paths of each one’s career to their reconnection during the COVID-10 pandemic and their reflections on the past from that vantage point.

When I received my review copy of this book, I grabbed my copy of Misty Copeland’s Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy. I’d read it back in 2023 wanted to see if it included any of the women featured in this book. It doesn’t, and in fact, Copeland didn’t even know about these dancers until after writing her book. In a chapter near the end, the five ballerinas join her on stage and share their history with her. I wasn’t expecting to have their absence in Copeland’s book explained. I love that it was something the author included, though.

Conclusion

Dance fans and fans of the arts will especially want to check out this book. The writing is compelling and makes you feel like you get to know each dancer personally. The story is perfectly timed to add to our conversations about the erasure of Black achievements in history and the importance of continuing to tell these stories.

Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of the post!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
References to verbal abuse. References to colorism and fat-phobic comments.

Romance/Sexual Content
Very brief references to marriage and divorce.

Spiritual Content
One dancer eventually converts to Islam. Another uses yoga and Buddhist practices to manage stress.

Violent Content
See above references to verbal abuse. Brief reference to a marriage ended by domestic violence.

Drug Content
Reference to a partner’s cocaine addiction and two dancers’ struggles with alcoholism.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Swans of Harlem Tour Schedule

Visit the other stops and get more information about the book.

February 24th — The Candid Cover

February 25th — The Story Sanctuary (you are here)

February 26th — Lit Lemon Books

February 26th — Tea Time Lit

February 27th — Twirling Book Princess

February 28th — Bloggin’ ’bout Books

Giveaway for The Swans of Harlem

Enter to win a copy of the book!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Black Heroes of the Wild West by James Otis Smith

Biography, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons
James Otis Smith
TOON Books
September 15, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Black Heroes of the Wild West

True stories from the Wild West, but not like you’ve seen in the movies.

This graphic novel by James Otis Smith celebrates the extraordinary true tales of three black heroes who took control of their destinies and stood up for their communities in the Old West. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Mary Fields became famous as “Stagecoach Mary,” a cigar-chomping, cardplaying coach driver who never missed a delivery. Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi, was one of the wiliest lawmen in the territories, bringing thousands of outlaws to justice with his smarts. Bob Lemmons lived to be 99 years old and was so good with horses that the wild mustangs on the plains of Texas took him for one of their own.

My Review

I stumbled onto this book while looking for resources for Black History Month. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. This book is packed with great information and engaging stories about historical figures in the American West.

The book opens with an introduction from the award-winning Kadir Nelson, who explains the book’s purpose and offers additional context for the work itself. Three biographies presented in graphic novel format follow the introduction. Through these engaging biographies, readers meet Mary Fields, Bass, Reeves, and Bob Lemmons.

Maybe I’d heard of Mary Fields, or “Stagecoach Mary,” as she came to be known, before reading the book. I definitely had not heard of the two men featured in the text. I love how the panels not only give facts about the lives of these incredible people but also reveal their character.

After the graphic novel panels relating those three biographies, there are a few pages of text and photographs that tell more abbreviated information about other Black heroes of the American West. The text also offers a more comprehensive view of what was happening at the time. There’s also a timeline that puts everything into perspective.

Conclusion

This book is as informative as it is engaging. A great pick for anyone interested in learning more about the history of the American West or about Black history.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Stagecoach Mary cared for and worked with nuns for years in Montana.

Violent Content
Vague references to gunfights and outlaws. Nothing graphically shown or described.

Drug Content
References to adults drinking alcohol and smoking cigars.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts, Young Readers Edition by Loren Grush with Rebecca Stefoff

Biography, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts, Young Readers Edition
Loren Grush with Rebecca Stefoff
Simon & Schuster
Published February 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts, Young Readers Edition

The extraordinary true story of America’s first female astronauts hailed as “suspenseful, meticulously observed, enlightening” by Margot Lee Shetterly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures, now adapted for young readers.

Sally Ride may have been the first US woman in space, but did you know there were five other incredible American women who helped blaze the trail for female astronauts by her side?

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots—a group women were also aggressively barred from—had the right stuff. But as the 1980s dawned so did new thinking, and six elite women scientists—Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Anna Lee Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon—set out to prove they had exactly the right stuff to become the first US women astronauts.

In The Six Young Readers Edition, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows how these brilliant and courageous women fought to enter STEM fields they were discouraged from pursuing, endured claustrophobic—and often deeply sexist—media attention, underwent rigorous survival training, and prepared for years to take multi-million-dollar equipment into orbit.

Told with contributions from nearly all the living participants and now adapted for young readers, this book is an inspiring testament to their struggles, accomplishments, and sacrifices and how they built the tools that made the space program run. It’s a legacy that lives on to inspire young people today.

My Review

I started reading The Six the same day the US government directed NASA to remove any mentions of “women in leadership” from their websites. As the biographies of women who’ve pioneered advancements in science disappeared from view, I learned about the first six women astronauts in the US space program and the challenges they overcame.

The book made me feel like I understood each woman’s personality. They each had different ways of dealing with obstacles. Some were more outgoing, and others highly valued their privacy. Grush calls attention to the differences in how the media responded to these six women versus the other men on their teams and even other men doing things for the first time. We’ve seen this in other fields, too, so it wasn’t particularly surprising. I loved how Sally Ride and the others handled themselves in those conversations.

Later in the book, Grush tells the story of the Challenger, which exploded shortly after launch in 1986. That part of the book was the hardest for me to read. Grush’s descriptions of the launch process made me feel like I was there. So when she described the Challenger disaster, that hit hard.

I am so glad I read this book. These are by no means the only stories of incredible things that women have brought to the space program. All of them deserve celebration and remembrance.

I highly recommend The Six for readers interested in the space program, US history, and women in STEM.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to relationships.

Spiritual Content
Judith Resnik gets married in a synagogue where she was confirmed earlier. Her funeral is also held in a synagogue.

Violent Content
References to misogyny and discrimination. For example, an employer pays one woman significantly less than a man with less experience and education for a similar job. At the time, no laws prevented this kind of discrimination.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: King: A Life by Jonathan Eig with Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long

Biography, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

King: A Life (The Pulitzer Prize-winning Bestseller, Adapted for Young Adults)
Jonathan Eig
with Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Published January 7, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About King: A Life (The Pulitzer Prize-winning Bestseller, Adapted for Young Adults)

Hailed as “the most compelling account of [Martin Luther] King’s life in a generation” by the Washington Post, the Pulitzer Prize–winning bestseller is now adapted for young adults in this new standard biography of the most famous civil rights activist in American History.

Often regarded as more of a myth and legend than man, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was many things throughout his storied life: student, activist, preacher, dreamer, father, husband. From his Atlanta childhood centered in the historically Black neighborhood of Sweet Auburn to his precipitous rise as a civil rights leader on the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, Dr. King would go on to become one of the most recognizable, influential, and controversial persons of the twentieth century.

In this fast-paced and immersive adaptation of Jonathan Eig’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller readers will meet a Dr. King like no other: a committed radical whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime, a minister wrestling with his human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government.

The inspiring young adult edition of King: A Life highlights the author’s never-before-seen research—including recently declassified FBI documents—while reaffirming and recontextualizing the lasting effects and implications of MLK’s work for the present day. Adapted by National Book Award–nominated authors Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, this biography for a new generation is a nuanced, unprecedented portrayal of a man who truly shook the world.

My Review

I don’t read a lot of biographies, but I found it hard to put this one down. The detailed portrait of Dr. King allows reader to go far beyond what the national holiday celebrates and the highlights elementary classrooms teach about the famed Civil Rights leader. It not only reveals a more complete picture of his values, beliefs, and political message, but it shows readers his humanity.

The book includes some commonly repeated quotes from a few of Dr. King’s speeches, adding greater context to his message. One chapter details how the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, tapped Dr. King’s phone before mailing him a recording of some of his conversations along with a letter hinting that the only way out for him was to take his own life.

It’s easy to imagine the moments of glory and the adrenaline rush that must have come from delivering powerful speeches to audiences hungry for his message. The book also shows what his life was like after he walked away from the podium. It reveals his fear as he was arrested and those marching with him faced armed government officials.

The adult version of this biography has already won awards and been hailed as an essential account of Dr. King’s life. I’m really excited that this young adult version makes this information more accessible to younger readers. This is well worth a read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Black American. Eig also focuses on King’s family and other Civil Rights leaders, most of them Black men and women.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to marriage and extramarital affairs. No details given.

Spiritual Content
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was a Christian preacher/pastor who believed that we have a duty to help the poor and disenfranchised and bring justice to all, especially marginalized people. He studied the teachings of Gandhi and strongly believed in nonviolent resistance.

Violent Content
References to Civil Rights protests and marches and violent response by police and government officials, including brief mentions of the use of police dogs, tear gas, and fire hoses to attack people protesting and marching. References to several murders of Black Americans, including Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Emmett Till.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home by Fransisco de la Mora

Biography, Book Review and Content, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Work, Her Home
Fransisco de la Mora
SelfMadeHero
Published April 11, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home

Endorsed by the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, writer, and illustrator Francisco de la Mora’s full-color graphic novel explores the public and private faces of the iconic artist.

Frida Kahlo, remembered as one of the most inspiring personalities of the 20th century, was a woman of two intertwined: she was both a charismatic and empowered artist exploring themes of resistance, authenticity, cruelty, and suffering and a more private person whose wounded body caused her a lifetime of pain that underpinned the many successes and disappointments that marked her time in the world.

Revealing and exploring these two Fridas, Francisco de la Mora’s graphic biography allows the reader to see just how far ahead of her time this complex artist was in her understanding of gender inequality and the culture of machismo, topics that remain relevant to this day and continue to lend resonance to Kahlo’s painting. Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s husband and fellow artist, described her work as “acid and tender, hard as steel but delicate and fine as a butterfly’s wing.” His words might apply equally to Frida herself.

My Review

One of the reasons I read so many graphic novels is that my niece and nephew love them, so I’m always looking for things they’re interested in. Usually, they lean toward fiction, but they’re both artists, so I thought maybe they might like this one for something different.

I loved the detailed descriptions of events from Frida Kahlo’s life– there was so much that I didn’t know before about her life, her family, and her work. I had no idea she was disabled, and from such a young age. The fact that she created so much while in so much pain is incredible to me. As a migraine sufferer, I can’t imagine what personal cost those efforts must have been for her.

The descriptions of her work and people’s reactions to it made me want to find a gallery showing Frida Kahlo’s paintings and see them in person. That would be really cool.

The only drawback for me reading this book is that some of the drawings of people in the panels are very small, so it’s hard to see their faces. There were moments when I wished the illustrations of faces had been more detailed so that the images were more emotionally evocative. On the whole, I enjoyed the book, though.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Frida is a Latina woman born in Mexico. Her father was German.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to Frida and her husband Diego having affairs, including her husband’s affair with Frida’s younger sister.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of the extensive injuries Frida suffered after she was involved in a bus accident and her chronic health issues afterward.

Drug Content
A few panels show adults drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.