Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier

The artwork is excellent, the stories are engaging, and you care about the characters. Did I mention that the science is accurate as well? But it doesn't dominate the stories; instead, it moves them along. Best of all, it's all true! I'm an elderly space buff, but I enjoyed the heck out of this book, and even learned a few things I hadn't known.If I had one nit to pick, it would be this: in 150+ pages, only two panels are devoted to the tragedies of spaceflight. The treatment is brief and bland: "when you make a serious mistake in this job, it costs lives. We've lost three crews: Apollo 1 in 1967, Challenger in 1986, and Columbia in 2003. NASA's Day of Remembrance happens every year. I rarely miss it."I understand that this book is intended to inspire. But I think the authors missed a valuable opportunity to describe how astronauts deal with major failures. Instead of the bland sentences I just quoted, how about this? "Each time, we were devastated. We had lost friends and colleagues. We grieved those losses. But we moved on, because we knew that's what they would have wanted us to do--determined never to make the same mistakes again." Something like that would have been much more meaningful, and I think, true to the inspirational spirit of the book. Just a thought.But that's a quibble. This book is superb. As others have said, it belongs in every school and public library. And it isn't just girls who can enjoy it. Boys will learn a few things too... not least of which is how dumb it is to exclude women from any activity.

This book is funny, informative and beautifully illustrated. It definitely fits the "all ages" category since kids and adults alike can enjoy it.

A great read -- I loved the inside look to the story of women in the space program and a trip along on the first steps of the International Space Station.

Amazing book about pioneering women in space. The comic format really brings it to life. My daughter and I read both loved it.

Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks have written a book in Astronauts that is educational, inspirational and entertaining. The narrative is told through the point of view of Mary Cleave, astronaut and Science Mission Directorate as NASA. Astronauts begins by describing the initial push to send women into space, including Valentina Tereshkova in the USSR and Jerrie Cobb and Jane Briggs Hart in the United States. While the Russians saw the advantages to training a female cosmonaut, the Americans encountered blatant sexism as committee after committee came up with reasons to bar them from the training programs. Yet, once Sally Ride and others were admitted they took on key roles and have become an integral part of the space program.I loved this book! The art. The depth. The science. There were several different arcs in the narrative that created an excellent pacing for the introduction of the main participants in the story. And the detail in these parts of the story is exactly what is needed for young people, all people for that matter, to latch on to this history. The key to this book is the depth. There is no dumbing down of the science or the story.Astronauts belongs in all middle and high school libraries. Young women in STEM curriculums will eat this up, and it will bring more young people to science and tech careers. I already talked to the librarian and physics teacher at my school about this book!

I really enjoyed this non-fiction graphic novel about the first women in space. It included a lot of detail about what these women had to accomplish and overcome to become part of NASA and astronauts.. It definitely had a lot of historical information written in a way that I'd hand this to 10 and older. Hopefully this book will prompt children to read more about each individual woman mentioned in this book. Perhaps it will also inspire the next generation of female astronauts!

This fun nonfiction graphic novel is about women's journey into space and the lengths and hardships it took to get there!Narrated by former US astronaut, Mary Cleave, this informative read shares her personal life story, starting as a child that wanted nothing more than to be a pilot and working up to being an actual astronaut that made it to space! Also told from Mary Cleave's pov, this book covers different milestones of the space program/s, such as stories and insights into other women's journeys to space, including Valentina Tereshkova who was the first woman in space, Sally Ride, and more.This was an entertaining and educational read about a time in history when women were just starting to be included, but not without a fight, tough skin, and a good sense of humor! The women who signed up for the space programs were tested much more thoroughly and repeatedly than their male counterparts and were met with difficulties and opposition from many sides. This book has a good balance of humor in pointing out the discrepancies that came from accepting the female gender into space.

This graphic novel looks at the experiences of female astronauts, centering on NASA astronaut and scientist Mary Cleave. As a child, she wrote a letter to President Eisenhower asking to join the Astronaut Corps. He wrote back graciously declining her offer. Her ambition remained and was eventually fulfilled. The book chronicles all the challenges that went into joining the space program, with a little side stop in the Soviet Union to tell the story of Valentina Ponomaryova, the first female in space. The bigger context of women joining the American space program naturally fits into Cleave's story as she works through school, the application process, and the training process in NASA.The narrative is fascinating, whimsical, and delightful. Cleve can give an insider's view of the space program with a lot of nuance and fun anecdotes. Her first mission, on the Shuttle Atlantis, is told in detail toward the end of the book. The end includes the authors' list of resources and some book recommendations for further reading.Highly recommended.