Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In this debut, Shetterly shines a much-needed light on the bright, talented, and wholly underappreciated geniuses of the institution that would become NASA. Called upon during the labor shortage of World War II, these women were asked to serve their country and put their previously overlooked skills to work-all while being segregated from their white coworkers. The author tells the compelling stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden as they navigated mathematical equations, the space race, and the civil rights movement over three decades of brilliant computing and discoveries. The professional and private lives of the ladies of Langley Research Center are documented through an impassioned and clearly well-researched narrative. Readers will learn how integral these women were to American aeronautics and be saddened by the racism and sexism that kept them from deserved recognition. VERDICT Shetterly's highly recommended work offers up a crucial history that had previously and unforgivably been lost. We'd do well to put this book into the hands of young women who have long since been told that there's no room for them at the scientific table. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/16; "Editors' Fall Picks," p. 27.]-Kate DiGirolomo, Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2-Shetterly introduces young readers to the inspirational and groundbreaking stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, and their once-hidden contributions to science, aeronautics, and space exploration. Shetterly expertly puts these women's achievements in their historical context: segregation, blatant sexism and racism in the workplace, the civil rights movement, and the space race. Despite the challenges these women faced, they persisted, worked hard, and put a man on the moon. In this picture book take, the text, at times, reads a bit clinical and it's occasionally difficult to distinguish one woman's characteristics from another's while reading. This is remedied with the handy time line of short profiles in the back matter. Freeman's full-color illustrations are stunning and chock-full of details, incorporating diagrams, mathematical formulas, and space motifs throughout (including the women's clothing and jewelry), enhancing the whole book. VERDICT An essential purchase for elementary school and public libraries.-Megan Kilgallen, Packer Collegiate -Institute, Brooklyn © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

In her debut book, Shetterly profoundly profiles four female African American employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center. Prior to its widespread adoption of electronic computers, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) employed "human computers" (all women) to perform calculations assigned by engineers (all men). Due to their location on the Langley campus, the African American women computers (the group included Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden) were known as the "West Computers." These women were segregated from other offices until the pivotal year of 1958, when NACA became NASA. Shetterly expertly details the women's struggles against organizational segregation and discrimination, most notably the inroads that the West Computers made in obtaining assignments that had previously been limited to male or white employees, including editorial board participation and authorship of technical reports used for Apollo and the Space Shuttle programs. Shetterly contrasts these events with desegregation legislation opposition and the resulting closing of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Hampton, Virginia (home of Langley). The overarching theme is that whether at NASA or nationally, the potential of US success was negatively impacted by segregation. This work is an important assessment of women's roles in the sciences and US segregation. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. --Kyle D. Winward, Central College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Margot Lee Shetterly was born in Hampton, Virginia in 1969. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce. After college she worked in investment banking for several years. Her other career moves have included working in the media industry for the website Volume .com, publishing an English language magazine, Inside Mexico; marketing consultant in the Mexican tourism industry; and writing. Hidden Figures is her first book, a New York Times Bestseller and was optioned for a feature film. <p> (Bowker Author Biography)