Book of the Week

April 13- 19, 2009

 

 

By Tanya Lee Stone

 

Published by Candlewick Press, 2009

134 pages

ISBN 978-0-7636-4502-1

 

Ages 10 and up

 

On July 23, 1999, Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle. Almost 40 years earlier, 13 female pilots began the arduous testing process to prove they too had “the right stuff” required for space flight.

 

Randolph Lovelace, chair of NASA’s Life Sciences Committee, tested all of the men who flew on Mercury 7. He believed that women would be more than capable of joining men in space. He knew that women in space would save NASA money. Because women are often lighter and smaller than men, they would take up less space and use less oxygen and thus save the space agency almost $1,000 per pound.

 

Using period photographs and extensive primary research, Stone tells the harrowing and complex story of the 13 women recruited by Lovelace to be the first women in space. In addition to rigorous physical and mental testing, the women faced chauvinism and racism from fellow pilots and the Vice President of the United States.

 

None of the Mercury 13 have left Earth’s atmosphere. Because of their fight, Sally got to ride and young girls throughout the country can do more than dream of exploring space.