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gmcuriousgeorge's review
3.0
Gives a great insight into the lives of these women working at NACA as "computers" and getting promoted through several other jobs
reading_is_my_hobby's review
2.0
Y’all. This one was a disappointment, and the first in my list that I would not have completed if not for my goal of 52. The issue is I was expecting more of a biography with a storyline (like the movie), and instead it’s a history of flight/space science and race (and the African American female computers). It was hard (impossible really) to keep up with each character’s storyline in the audiobook, and some of the details of the business structure of Langley booooored me. Important information, but not an enjoyable read. Highly recommend the movie.
morgob's review
4.0
What an amazing story about amazing women. I learned a lot from this book, not just about NACA and NASA but also about life in post-WWII America, filling in a bit more of our nation's history in my mind. I will say, the reason I gave four and not five stars is only because of the book's readability. It was pretty slow to start, and at times hard to get through. Not so much because it wasn't interesting, I think mostly it had to do with the way the story is written. It jumps around from character to character quite a bit and just jumps around in general, so at some points I was left trying to put together the pieces of the story in a more linear way. That is my one complaint about the book, and it did make it more difficult to read. Normally, it does take me a bit longer to read nonfiction, but a lot of the time I will fall into the story eventually. That didn't really happen this time.
Regardless, this is an amazing story about triumph for women and especially black women. The things they had to go through were astonishing, the things they had to deal with and just treated them as "ordinary". At several points, the author noted that it wasn't considered sacrifice for them or a horrible detriment to their daily lives, it was just normal to experience segregation and discrimination. And the fact that I can look at this story and still compare it to what things are like today is awful. Yes, we have made a lot of progress in regards to equality, but we are not there for sure. These woman astound me and I really commend them. First of all, they were brilliant. I cannot imagine doing that kind of work for extra long work days almost every day of the week. Math is not my area, first of all. Although, this book did bring back quite a few memories of physics class in high school, when we built our own rockets and let them loose. We did not have to do all of the calculations for trajectory by hand, though. Just some of them. Their work does seem really cool, and I know what it's like to be excited to go to work everyday (okay, not everyday). They inspired me to try to make more of a difference in my work, even if I can't do it in the same way.
Overall, this was a wonderful book. Though not my favorite written nonfiction, it tells a great story and taught me a lot. I will definitely have to watch the movie now to go along with this. Women power!!
Regardless, this is an amazing story about triumph for women and especially black women. The things they had to go through were astonishing, the things they had to deal with and just treated them as "ordinary". At several points, the author noted that it wasn't considered sacrifice for them or a horrible detriment to their daily lives, it was just normal to experience segregation and discrimination. And the fact that I can look at this story and still compare it to what things are like today is awful. Yes, we have made a lot of progress in regards to equality, but we are not there for sure. These woman astound me and I really commend them. First of all, they were brilliant. I cannot imagine doing that kind of work for extra long work days almost every day of the week. Math is not my area, first of all. Although, this book did bring back quite a few memories of physics class in high school, when we built our own rockets and let them loose. We did not have to do all of the calculations for trajectory by hand, though. Just some of them. Their work does seem really cool, and I know what it's like to be excited to go to work everyday (okay, not everyday). They inspired me to try to make more of a difference in my work, even if I can't do it in the same way.
Overall, this was a wonderful book. Though not my favorite written nonfiction, it tells a great story and taught me a lot. I will definitely have to watch the movie now to go along with this. Women power!!
jpritiken's review
4.5
Great addition to the classroom! Only thing that was difficult was the switching of narratives of each of the women. It’s not always super clear which was tricky for some students.
wordynerdyanddirty's review
1.0
I feel that I'm a terrible person for saying this... but I loved the movie and couldn't even finish the book.
heidi_mcj's review
4.0
Fascinating look at the contributions of women and black women in particular to the space program. My 1st-3rd graders enjoyed it.