Hidden Figures: Young Readers' Edition of Hidden Figures―Celebrating African American Women Pioneers at NASA

I am so glad that I read this after seeing the movie. I loved the movie, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the lifetime of achievement of the women featured in the movie plus there are more women mentioned in the book whose accomplishments aren't evident in the film. It's an amazing story and Shetterly relays it beautifully. I loved every minute of reading this book and it needs to be in all school libraries. I get that schools don't have the time to devote to each historical topic, but having something like this (there is a Young Readers version available here) for them to read would be great. I wish I had spent more time in the non-fiction section back when I was in school but I'm trying to make up for it now. I love the stories of women throughout history, seeing that we've been contributing to the world in more than 2 ways, and promoting those stories when I see them. Fortunately, this one doesn't exactly need my help. It's been great to see all the notoriety this story has gotten, it's well deserved. Shetterly goes a long way to giving the reader an understanding of not only the important nature of these women's work, but the sacrifices they made to do the work and the pressures they were under from several sources. The difference in the way they were treated at work and at home, by coworkers and by passersby on the sidewalk, is well delineated and it paints a good picture of what it must have meant to be there, to be breaking down barriers and to be given credit for their incredible intelligence. I appreciate that they all say they were just doing their jobs, which I'm sure is true, but there's always more to it than that. I've known people who "just" do their jobs and there's a difference between them and people who love the work. It's this difference that breaks down the barriers that these women took on, purposefully or not. I appreciated Shetterly's inclusion of the timeline with the Civil Rights movement. I am familiar with the events from school and other reading, but it helped me out to have it overlaid on the timeline of the events at NACA and NASA, to understand the shifting sands the women found themselves on. She did a great job too of delineating the cultural and workplaces differences with being African American, a woman, or an African American and a woman. The African American men got to come in as engineers and the women had to fight for that too. White women were also given advantages over African American women, which caused the women featured here to deal with twice the problems the others had. This is a book that everyone should read, but especially if you watched the movie, which really only covers half. The book carries the story of the three central women all the way to the moon landing, while the movie stops at John Glenn's orbit. Shetterly's writing style is impeccable and the story itself is astounding.

Hidden Figures was truly a heroic novel about the women of NASA who went unrecognized for their tremendous efforts towards air exploration and travel. I have mixed views on this novel, but I think it should be read widely amongst African American children, teens, and young adults as it is an inspiring story about hardworking people who sought to become more than what society duped them to be because of their race. This novel is empowering and is a good read in my eyes. The way Shetterly can educate the reader on the social issues during the 20th century and display its impact on African Americans through specific characters is very impressive, yet trivial. As it is a groundbreaking novel, it does have some cons. The piece was a bit too heavy to read because the author tries to focus on so many aspects during this period. She makes so many references towards history, the book starts to become a history book in a sense, but it is essentially a book about history. That was a difficult concept for me to grasp as I read and wrote an assignment on it. Shetterly, unfortunately, bites off more than can chew as she switches from characters while trying to include historical events. Her constant back-and-forth methods made it difficult for me to interpret what was happening at some moments. She did pull it off, but the transitions made be harder for others. I feel like she tried to fit too much information into a small frame. She elaborated on Jim Crow, Brown vs. The Board of Education, World War 2, the space race, and many other events in only 265 pages, so the plot had some holes and was convoluted. Some characters like young Christine were irrelevant to the plot and I saw no significance in those people. Another reference was the woman from Star Trek and her story, which I thought was not important to the plot. Shetterly’s depiction of African American men and women in racist America was so puissant, I do not think she needed to include some small pieces like the ones I mentioned. On the other hand, her ability to captivate the character’s emotions through text was incredible. An example would be Mary Jackson’s predicament with the bathroom and her journey to become an engineer at NASA. She moves the audience through her distressful tone as she illustrates the struggle the women at NASA and African Americans faced while trying to avoid being devoured by the country that prayed on their downfall as racism still lingered. African Americans often felt “angry and humiliated” because of the treatment they faced as “negotiating racial boundaries had become a daily fact of negro life.” (Shetterly 108) Shetterly’s novel gave an insider’s look at the status of African Americans in America during the 20th century. They were caught in a crossfire as the country relied on them to fight in WW2, which was a war against racism, but wouldn’t call it upon themselves to solve the racial problems in their own country. “America’s inadequacy” and hypocrisy came to the forefront with the lives of Dorothy, Katherine, and Mary being emphasized. (Shetterly, 152) These individuals were part of a black movement of individuals who sacrificed everything they had to become more than their color. America asked so much of these people but gave them nothing. Shetterly beautifully elicits the power that African Americans had in the workforce that America bothers to show or care about and this is why I believe this piece is worth reading. This book was different because it displayed success in many different ways instead of one. This is what demonstrates black excellence at its finest. Given that this book was a little too heavy and convoluted in the plot, I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. It goes to show that black voices can be heard no matter the predicaments we face. In a stagnant country, we will prosper. These successful women “mirrored the aspirations and philosophy of the surrounding black community” and that is why this novel should be read by others seeking to become pioneers of a new age of black progression. (Shetterly,95)

... though it's not written by any historian. The author starts of with some personal remarks that give us some access to the world, she experienced in her childhood, the black community of scientists working for NASA, many of them women. And then the question: How many female black scientists have been there, contributing to the national goals of aircraft and spacetravel? She starts to ask witnesses and consult libraries an historians, taking us on a trip of time travel, written in the fluent language of a novel but precise as the narrative of an historical account. She gives us a broad and detailed picture of early NACA, which started as a scientific enterprise to improve military an civil aircraft during World War I and transformed into a space agency after World War II. She chooses a few well documented female black protagonists in this surrounding and gives us an idea of their social, historical and scientific backgrounds and surroundings, their stories and developments and arranges hundreds of other people's stories and historical details around them to draw a very dense and detailed picture of NACA, NASA but also the state of Virginia, the US, the Civil rights movement, black workers teachers, scientists, communities and institutions, the cold war, the space race. Every page interesting and enjoyable. I could have read more of this and felt unfortunate when I read that the author actually was leaving out some pieces, believing, it would be too much to include it all. I can understand that so many pages might be difficult to sell. But I would like to have a sequel with the missing stories. Really. It's so beautiful to read about these things and so amazing. Would be a shame not to share the whole story after all that work.

In great shape for a used book. Was also super fast delivery thanks guys :) Also the book and story was absolutely inspiring. What an amazing story.

This is truly a piece of history. It cites a great example of humanity's victory over racism. A loved it very much.

This book is a must read for all, but mainly female engineers. It shows what is possible, beyond all borders of origin, age or family. When you have the curiosity for science and engineering, do not let anyone get above you. This book shows that everything is possible. It is not easy, but it is possible and how important it is to help other and to give a leg up when you can. There is a possibility to have it all: work, family, friends and even hobbies. And if they have done it before, so can you! Read the book and absorb its power, kling to your dreams, your family and friends and never let anyone make you doubt in your qualities as an engineer, mother wife and friend! And look for role models, colleagues and friends who are just like you and will tell you that if they manage, you will too.

This book has been thoroughly researched and contains details I have not expected but enjoyed greatly. It’s eye-opening for someone like me who grew up in Europe and loves reading about the American Space Program. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in history. Beautifully written by a talented author, where love, admiration and respect for the characters is shown on each page. I’m so grateful for this book as it’s now my favourite book of all the books I have ever read. Thank you.