BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stone, Tanya Lee. 2009. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763636111
SUMMARY
Jerrie Cobb and twelve other women, sometimes referred to as the “Mercury 13”, dared to dream to be astronauts. After passing the physical examinations and passing with flying colors, in some cases displaying results superior to males who had taken the same tests, these women were denied the right to be astronauts due to gender discrimination. This informational book allows readers to enter the world of Jerrie Cobb as she undergoes the necessary tests and procedures to qualify to be an astronaut, endures criticism, prejudice and gender stereotyping, and helps spear-head the fight for future women astronauts. Other important figures within the movement, including some of the women that are part of the “Mercury 13” are featured, as well as successful women astronauts who were able to achieve their dream thanks to the efforts of the “Mercury 13” and their supporters.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Dr. Randolph Lovelace is the name of the man who dared to think women could be astronauts and supervised the examinations of the women known as the “Mercury 13”. He wanted to convince NASA that not only were women equal to men when it came to the ability to be astronauts, but it would be more cost efficient to send women into space than men, because they were usually smaller and lighter. He claimed the nation would save a thousand dollars per pound. This argument may not have swayed committees that had to make the final decision to allow women to be considered eligible applicants for astronaut training, but what he started would eventually go on to shape history because the women he selected would not take “No, women can’t!” for an answer.
Stone centers the story around Jerrie Cobb, a record-breaking pilot, who became the first woman to “have the blood tests…x-rays…blow into a tube to test her lungs… to have freezing water injected into her ears…” and much more. (Stone 16-17) The story begins with Jerrie at Cape Canaveral, with the surviving members of the “Mercury 13”, watching Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins pilot and command a space shuttle readying for launch. Eileen Collins is the first woman to pilot a space shuttle, and also the first woman to be the captain and commander of the personnel inside of it. From this historic scene, Stone is able to smoothly transition into the past, delving into the story of Jerrie Cobb and the women who were almost in Eileen Collin’s position nearly 40 years before.
Stone writes the story as a narrative told from the vantage point of an omniscient outside narrator, herself. Readers receive facts in chronological order, starting from the formulation of the idea of the WISE project (Women In Space Earliest) to the achievements of more recent female figures in space aeronautics. Facts are told in the form of prose so smooth that a reader will not feel as if they are reading an informational text, but fiction; it is that entertaining. The information presented is intriguing, and Stone always is sure to define procedures, such as what it meant for Jerrie Cobb to have freeing water injected into her ears. The water freezes the inner ear bone which, in turn, causes vertigo. Readers will learn about various tests and procedures and instruments, and also about the politics behind the women in space movement. Readers unfamiliar with social injustice will be educated about a time period only 40 years in the past where certain groups of people were denied freedoms that people today may take for granted, such as the freedom to break societal molds.
Stone divides the book into chapters and within the chapters, experiences are classified by precise dates, so that readers will be able to create and keep a timeline in mind as they navigate the work. One particular section of the book is written in italics; this section covers the span of time Jerrie Cobb underwent a test known as: The Tank. She was placed in an isolation tank, a pool of water, with headsets that played white nose, in a darkened room, alone, for hours. The section is a catalog of her private thoughts as she floats in the tank. Irrational thoughts are tempered with rational suggestions, informing the reader of Jerrie’s strong mental constitution. Jerrie remained in the tank for nine hours and forty minutes, breaking all records set by anyone, including men. Jerrie’s record is later beaten by two other people--also women, within the program.
Stone provides black and white photographs of the women of “Mercury 13”, photographs of the astronauts in Mercury 7, political figures, women astronauts who set precedents, newspaper clippings, political cartoons, and scanned political documents, such as a “hidden” document signed by Lyndon B. Johnson in favor of prohibiting women from being astronauts. Photographs are peppered through the work, breaking up long sections of text. The story is not a picture book, so images appear every few pages.
The text is not watered down, nor is the language simplified for younger audiences. The writing is very straight forward and overall effective for catching the attention of readers and holding it with presentations of facts that flow as easily as a fictional story. Readers might find themselves forgetting they are reading educational material they have become so engrossed in the story. Stone shows readers injustices and prejudices by giving statements and accounts delivered by people against women taking on jobs that were deemed worthy only of men. She succeeds in making it seem as if the sabotage of the “almost astronauts” is an unraveling mystery, revealing factors, one by one, of the reasons why the initial program failed. First, readers learn about the major “roadblock”: astronaut applicants must be jet-pilots. Women were not allowed to be jet-pilots at the time. Then readers learn about Lyndon B. Johnson’s hidden agenda: to keep women and other minorities out of the astronaut program. Then, Stone delivers a surprise. Readers are taken to the court hearing where Cobb and her comrade Jane Hart are stating their case for women astronauts and a person who should be one of their strongest advocates, Jacqueline Cochran, the leader of the Women Air force Service Pilots program during World War II, states that women should not be astronauts. After readers are delivered this shock, Stone skillfully delves into the back story of why Cochran did such a thing: jealousy.
At the end of the work, Stone provides readers with a color photograph of the surviving members of the “Mercury 13” forty years later, standing in front of a mural of an astronaut. She also provides readers with a detailed author’s note which explains why she chose to write the work and how she wrote it, along with suggestions for further reading, web bibliographies, and an extensive list of her numerous, as well as accurate, sources.
Tanya Lee Stone gives readers a wonderfully in-depth and accurate work of informational literature that tells a little-known story of the women who started the movement that led to women being allowed to become astronauts, or whatever else a young girl might dream of becoming. Young readers, especially female readers, will be inspired by this text, as the first woman in space (a woman from Russia) was by Jerrie Cobb, to aspire and dare to pursue a vocation others might declare impossible for them to attain.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
--Jane Adams Honor Book Awards
Starred Review. Grade 5–7—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, School Library Journal.
“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. Grades 5-8. --Hazel Rochman, Booklist
Fascinating, dramatic story...The author offers great insight into how deeply ingrained sexism was in American society and its institutions. Handsomely illustrated with photographs, this empowering, impassioned story will leave readers inspired." --Kirkus Reviews
CONNECTIONS
Though the reading levels of these titles are a bit higher than that of Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, the following titles are also stories of strong women who filled untraditional roles and shaped portions of America’s history with their efforts. Younger female readers will enjoy reading these stories about women who overcame criticism, prejudice and injustice and dared to achieve more than the roles society wished them to play.
Atkins, Jeannine. 2003. Wings and Rockets: The Story of Women in Air and Space. New York: Farrar, Starus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374384500
Cummins, Julie. 2001. Tomboy of the Air: Daredevil Pilot Blanche Stuart Scott. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060292430
Stone, Tanya Lee. 2007. Amelia Earhart. New York: DK Publishing. ISBN 978-0756625528
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