Bibliography: Stone, Tanya Lee. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS:13 WOMEN WHO DARED TO DREAM. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. 2009. Print

  ISBN: 9780763636111

 

“T- Minus Thirty-Eight Years”

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream is a riveting account of the path that 13 of the best female aviators traversed in the hopes of becoming the first women to fly into space. Randolph Lovelace, the scientist who tested the Mercury 7 astronauts, “believed that women are as capable as men” to meet the demands of spaceflight and “he wanted to prove it.”  At the heart of this story is Jerrie Cobb, a veteran female pilot who successfully completed every test given to the Mercury 7 astronauts.  After Cobb proved that she had the “right stuff”, Lovelace set out to find more female pilots with the “right stuff”.  He put 18 women through the same test.  When phrase one of these tests was completed, 12 of these women had proven that they were “strong enough, smart enough and fit enough” for spaceflight.  Henceforth, these 13 women were dubbed the ‘Mercury 13’ because they had successfully completed the same test as the original Mercury 7 astronauts.  Lovelace proved women had the “right stuff,” but these findings were not enough to overcome the prevailing prejudices of the time.  Tanya Lee Stone goes on to chronicle how the efforts of Cobb and her colleagues were thwarted by everyone from then Vice-President Lyndon B Johnson to Mercury astronauts Scott Carpenter and John Glenn.  Ironically, their campaign was also sabotaged out of jealousy by Jackie Cochran, the highly respected female pilot responsible for organizing the WASP during World War II.  Stone succeeds in demonstrating how the efforts of these women paved the way for the eventual acceptance of women and other minorities into NASA’s space program. 

 Critical Summary:

This book is backed by the curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and it is clear that the author did her research well. In the Author’s Note, Stone describes how she investigated this story.  She reveals that her research led her to “many books, articles, scientific papers, audio recordings and videotapes,” but it also took her outside of the libraries and museums to the airfields, flying lessons and personal interviews with the women themselves.  As with many traditional nonfiction texts, this book does not need to be read from cover to cover.  However, it is engaging enough to be read this way.  The book has a table of contents and an index to help the reader locate the specific information they may be looking for.  Furthermore, this book has a well-organized source list which is divided into the following categories: book sources, articles and documents, videos, source notes (subcategorized by chapters), and photography credits.  It is divided into twelve chapters.  The book begins with a forward written by Margaret A. Weitekamp and ends with an Author’s note.  The layout of the book is logical but it is not chronological.  The book begins in the year 1999 with Eileen Collins historical fight on board the space shuttle Columbia in which she is in charge.  This is the first time that a woman has ever been the commander of a space shuttle.  Then as if you were inside a time machine the book goes back to 1960.  This is where the story of the ‘Mercury 13’ women begins.  The story progress from then until present day space exploration by women.    

At the center of this story is the ‘Mercury 13’ women’s unwavering desire to fly into space. Stone masterfully propels this point by her intentional use of only black and white photographs to tell their story and that of the first six women who were later admitted to the space program.  It is not until “the space shuttle Columbia took to the skies with Eileen Collins at the helm” that the photographs are displayed in full color.  As the book progresses it is clear to see it was designed to demonstrate how the thirteen women opened the doors for other women and minorities to explore space.      

Stone meticulous weaving of the women’s steadfast determination, the odds of their success, the prevailing social ideals of the time and the irrefutable facts which ultimately grounded their mission reveals her passion and enthusiasm for the plight of the women’s movement.  Stone effectively conveys the heroic struggles and successes that the ‘Mercury 13’ women underwent in their pursuit of the ultimate flight in a natural respective language without condemnation or sarcastic words and phrases; in doing so she invites the readers to seek more information about the ‘Mercury 13’ women, the Mercury 7 program, and President Lyndon B. Johnson.       

Activities:

Social Studies: Students can create a timeline of the important events that advanced women into space.

Social Studies: Compare and Contrast NASA’s space program form the 1960’s to today’s program.

Awards:

• 2010 Sibert Medal Award Winner
• YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Honor
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor
• NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor
• Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award

 

Reviews:

Stone adopts a tone of righteous indignation in chronicling the quixotic efforts of 13 women to win admission into NASA's initial astronaut training program in the early 1960s. The women were all pilots (one, Jerrie Cobb, had more hours in the air than John Glenn or Scott Carpenter), earned high scores in preliminary tests, and even counted a senator's wife among their number. But resistance came from all directions—including NASA regulations, which were weighted toward men; media coverage that reflected contemporary gender expectations; political maneuvering by then vice president LBJ and other officials; and the crushing opposition expressed by renowned aviatrix Jackie Cochran in a 1962 Congressional hearing. Properly noting, however, that losing "depends on where you draw the finish line," the author closes with chapters on how women did ultimately win their way into space—not only as mission specialists, but also as pilots and commanders. Illustrated with sheaves of photos, and based on published sources, recently discovered documents, and original interviews with surviving members of the "Mercury 13," this passionately written account of a classic but little-known challenge to established gender prejudices also introduces readers to a select group of courageous, independent women.—John Peters, New York Public Library (Excerpt from School Library Journal, 2013)

“Space gals. Astronettes. Astrodolls . . . Who do these women think they are?” The media mocked them. Male astronauts did not want them, and neither did then vice-president Lyndon Johnson. If they were to let women into the space program, blacks and other minorities would be next. Nearly 20 years before the U.S. officially admitted women into the astronaut program, 13 women, known as the Mercury 13, fought for the right to soar into space. This dramatic, large-size photo-essay covers their stories, along with the exciting politics of the women’s liberation struggle in the 1950s and ’60s (“What is a woman’s place?”) and the breakthrough science and technology surrounding space exploration, including details of the would-be astronauts’ tests and training. The chatty, immediate style (“Picture this”) and full-page photos make for a fast read, and the crucial civil-rights history will stay with readers. The long, spacious back matter is part of the story, with detailed chapter notes and a bibliography. -Hazel Rochman  (Excerpt from Booklist, 2013)