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52nd out of 94 books
—
332 voters
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
by
Tanya Lee Stone (Goodreads Author)
They had the right stuff. They defied the prejudices of the time. And they blazed a trail for generations of women to follow.
What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape — any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a m...more
What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape — any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a m...more
Hardcover, 134 pages
Published
February 24th 2009
by Candlewick Press
(first published February 29th 2000)
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Dec 05, 2012
Ed
added it
Stone, Tanya Lee. (2009). Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. New York: Candlewick. 134 pp. ISBN 978-0-7636-3611-1 (Hard Cover); $24.99
In many of the books reporting about our Apollo space missions, we find information about the need to conserve space inside the shuttle, to reduce the weight. Each additional pound translates into thousands and thousands of extra dollars in cost. We also read of the stress induced by the mandatory isolation required of an astronaut. What we don’t real...more
In many of the books reporting about our Apollo space missions, we find information about the need to conserve space inside the shuttle, to reduce the weight. Each additional pound translates into thousands and thousands of extra dollars in cost. We also read of the stress induced by the mandatory isolation required of an astronaut. What we don’t real...more
This is for my nonfiction book.
Almost Astronauts is a nonficiton book about 13 women in the 1960's with high hopes to become apart of NASA and be the first women to take a space mission flight. Jerrie Cobb was the first woman who began going through testing for the mission. Her and the other women went through the same exact tests as the men of Mercury 7, and passed all of the tests. Sometimes they did even better than the men. Though these women were highly qualified to be apart of the flights,...more
Almost Astronauts is a nonficiton book about 13 women in the 1960's with high hopes to become apart of NASA and be the first women to take a space mission flight. Jerrie Cobb was the first woman who began going through testing for the mission. Her and the other women went through the same exact tests as the men of Mercury 7, and passed all of the tests. Sometimes they did even better than the men. Though these women were highly qualified to be apart of the flights,...more
The book "Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream" is a fascinating book about womens stuggles at accomplishing their dreams in a male dominating society. Women were not allowed rights into space until 1978, and author Tanya Lee Stone really addresses the process and struggles towards becoming an astronaut. Stone does an admirable job of compiling her facts and figures and of profiling these strong and adventurous women who dared to dream. Stone also used black and white photgraphs throug...more
Grade/Interest Level:Middle School (Grades 6-8)
Reading Level: Lexile 980L
Genre: Biography
Main Characters:13 women who wanted to become astronauts, President Kennedy, and Randy Lovelace
Setting:NASA
POV:Narrator
Summary:
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone is an amazingly accurate account of American history and the struggles women faced to be seen as equals in the work force as well in society. This story open in the year of 1999 and we see a women standing there and c...more
Reading Level: Lexile 980L
Genre: Biography
Main Characters:13 women who wanted to become astronauts, President Kennedy, and Randy Lovelace
Setting:NASA
POV:Narrator
Summary:
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone is an amazingly accurate account of American history and the struggles women faced to be seen as equals in the work force as well in society. This story open in the year of 1999 and we see a women standing there and c...more
The story of the “Mercury 13” women is one that all girls (and boys) should read. Much of the story focuses on Jerrie Cobb, a remarkable woman who is one of the foremost pioneers for women and space exploration. Stone writes vividly and candidly of Jerrie and her experiences, and the book’s photo-essay format brings the story to life through black and white photographs of the women and their experiences. Not only is it a story about dreams of space exploration, but it offers a glimpse into the p...more
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream is a book about thirteen women who fought to be admitted into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The United States created NASA in 1958 with the requirements of flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, and being in top physical shape. The unspoken rule at the time was that you also had to be a man. Jerrie Cobb was the first women to take the medical tests to be an astronaut, in secret of course. In August the findi...more
I was pleasantly surprised by this book! The story of 13 women who tried to become astronauts in 1958. Led by Jerrie Cobb, the Mercury 13 went through rigorous testing to ensure that they were capable of becoming astronauts. Unfortunately, at that time, NASA was a "boys club" and not ready to let in women. This book details the tests they went through as well as their congressional hearing to gain acceptance into the astronaut program. While non of these women ever made it into space, they paved...more
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. Through the efforts of Randolph Lovelace, the chairman of NASA’s Life Sciences Committee, several women were tested for suitability for space travel. They all more than surpassed the results seen for the Mercury 7 astronauts, but never were admitted into the space program. The reason – they were the wrong sex at the wrong time.
Almost A...more
Almost A...more
The book Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, takes us back to a time when women were discriminated against and traveling to outer space was completely out of the question. The story is written as a timeline which tells a story of women striving to fulfill their dreams, who not only proved they were tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. This story gives readers a look at the 1960s sexism and racism that occurred in the United States. The author d...more
Dec 09, 2011
Amy Keltner
added it
1. Informational
2. The story is told about the women who took a step out of the norm to become pilots and become who dared to dream big. The biggest dream being working with NASA.
3. a: The stories biggest strength was its ability to organize the information of the extraordinary women.
b: It has the ability to organize its information and provide you just enough facts about the events that took place during that time frame. The pictures that go along with the information help explain the interwo...more
2. The story is told about the women who took a step out of the norm to become pilots and become who dared to dream big. The biggest dream being working with NASA.
3. a: The stories biggest strength was its ability to organize the information of the extraordinary women.
b: It has the ability to organize its information and provide you just enough facts about the events that took place during that time frame. The pictures that go along with the information help explain the interwo...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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They passed all the rigorous physical tests, they were expert pilots, they handled hours in an isolation tank better than their male counterparts, but these thirteen women were not admitted to NASA’s space program in the early 1960s. Officially, because they were not jet test pilots, but really it was a “hard wall of prejudice”—they were not white men. And behind closed doors they heard that directly from Vice President Lyndon Johnson, ironically the same man who a few years later, as president...more
When I was in 5th grade I wanted nothing more than to be an astronaut. I had no idea that this was a field that had only recently opened to women. I had watched "The Right Stuff" probably a hundred times with my father. I had no idea there were 13 women who took the same agonizing tests and passed them with flying colors. In fact on some tests they did BETTER than their male counterparts.
When I picked this book up I just wanted to look at it quickly so I could be ready to mention it in the book...more
When I picked this book up I just wanted to look at it quickly so I could be ready to mention it in the book...more
There were times when I thought Tanya Lee Stone should have let the story speak for itself instead of hammering in the "message" of the book over and over again (I probably don't need to tell you the message, but I will anyway: these women were just as capable as men; they were unfairly discriminated against by NASA; the women were brave to challenge norms and pave the way for future generations). The author was pushing the message so hard that I felt inclined to question her tone.
I also found m...more
I also found m...more
I'm a 7th grade teacher, and my students can always tell when I'm reading an especially good book during our sustained silent reading time. I'm a reader who wears her literary heart on her sleeve and I'm not always quiet about it. The kids heard me gasping in shock as I read Suzanne Collins' THE HUNGER GAMES, laughing out loud at Erin Dionne's MODELS DON'T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES, and most recently, grumbling with indignation as I read Tanya Lee Stone's latest work of nonfiction for middle grade r...more
In 1959, pictures appeared in newspapers and magazines showing the first seven Americans who would explore space. All of them were men. They'd been tested in military positions and had been through a battery of physical and psychological testing. Men were braver, stronger. But were they, really? Randolph Lovelace, the doctor who had tested the men, didn't think so. Lovelace believed that women could be every bit as good as men as astronauts, with the added bonus that women are smaller and lighte...more
Sep 14, 2009
Edward Sullivan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
children-s-nonfiction,
young-adult-nonfiction
Stone tells the fascinating, dramatic true story of the “Mercury 13,” a group of women aviators who proved to be as courageous, intelligent, and fit as any man, but were nonetheless barred from NASA’s astronaut program because of their gender. When NASA was created in 1958 and the astronaut training program established, visionaries like Randolph Lovelace, the physician who tested the Mercury 7 astronauts, were determined to prove women as capable as men to meet the demands of space travel. At th...more
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with NASA and astronauts. One year I spent the entire summer studying for the Air Force Academy's entrance exam because I thought the best way to be an astronaut was to be a pilot. The only thing that I didn't learn was that years before Sally Ride was shot into space, thirteen women were willing, ready and able to do the same.
In Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, Tanya Lee Stone, takes us back to a time before Title IX, before women in science progr...more
In Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, Tanya Lee Stone, takes us back to a time before Title IX, before women in science progr...more
This book follows the journey of a group of women, known as the "Mercury 13", who had a dream of becoming astronauts in a time where women weren’t even allowed to rent a car or take out a bank loan without their husbands. Despite the difficulties and rejections these women faced they continued to work hard to pave the way for other women to achieve the dream they were denied. Almost Astronauts also contains many other inspirational stories of women in aviation from the Women Airforce Service Pil...more
Reading Level: 4th Grade and older
This book is the story of the "Mercury 13" women who paved the way for women to be included in the space program. All 13 of these women, brave, skilled pilots were chosen to unofficially complete the three phases of astronaut testing. They proved they were just as strong and capable as men in fact they performed better than most of the men on these tests. Jeri Cobb was the first to complete and pass all three phases - Then NASA stopped the final phase of the tes...more
This book is the story of the "Mercury 13" women who paved the way for women to be included in the space program. All 13 of these women, brave, skilled pilots were chosen to unofficially complete the three phases of astronaut testing. They proved they were just as strong and capable as men in fact they performed better than most of the men on these tests. Jeri Cobb was the first to complete and pass all three phases - Then NASA stopped the final phase of the tes...more
I saved the non-fiction books until the last of my required reading because unless I am researching a subject, I usually do not find them an enjoyable read. This selection may have changed my mind.
This is the true story of the "Mercury 13" They were the first women to try to enter America's space program in the early 1960's. Unfortunately, they were, as astronaut Scott Carpenter put it years later, "ahead of their time". While none of those dynamic women actually made it into space, their effort...more
This is the true story of the "Mercury 13" They were the first women to try to enter America's space program in the early 1960's. Unfortunately, they were, as astronaut Scott Carpenter put it years later, "ahead of their time". While none of those dynamic women actually made it into space, their effort...more
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone is an incredible book. It tells the story of thirteen women and their quest to go into space in the 1950s. The few who were on the women’s side argued that the costs would be considerably smaller to send women into space because they weighed less and required less oxygen. They also compared themselves to Russia, which was training a woman to send into space during that time. However, they faced numerous obstacles and were truly “a...more
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Almost Astronauts 13 Women Who Dared To Dream is the story of 13 women who participated in the same tests used by NASA to test the seven male astronauts of the Mercury 7 mission. These women, along with scientist Randy Lovelace, hoped to change NASA’s perception of women and to participate in the astronaut-training program. This book shares both the personal role each woman played in the testing and the public debate that followed along with the political side and social climate of the 1960s. Wo...more
I'd really give this 3.5 stars. I listened to this on audio and was completely fascinated by the story. Somehow in all of my feminist readings, I have never come across the story of these women before. They might be some of the most badass badasses in the history of the US feminist movement.
I loved the descriptions of the trainings they had to go through. What turned this to 3.5 stars was the length. It was incredibly short, and the references to other nonfiction books on the topic makes me won...more
I loved the descriptions of the trainings they had to go through. What turned this to 3.5 stars was the length. It was incredibly short, and the references to other nonfiction books on the topic makes me won...more
My daughter began studying astronomy this month, and right now our focus is on astronauts. So when I heard that Sally Ride had passed away yesterday, we already had a large stack of books about astronauts. I tucked my daughter in to bed and began looking through our books, thinking I would put together an impromptu lesson about the first American woman in space. Imagine my surprise when only two of the books about astronauts that I'd pulled from the library last week even mentioned Sally Ride.
On...more
On...more
maybe 3 3/4 stars. Bolden tells a compelling story of 13 accomplished women pilots who completed and passed the grueling physical and psychological tests administered to potential astronauts. In the early 1960’s, however, it was not enough to be exceedingly well-qualified for the space program. One also needed to be male. These women did everything possible to convince the men in power to allow women into space, but they had “the right stuff at the wrong time”. Author puts the struggle of these...more
I read this book right after I read Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice and lets just say, it was one afternoon of infuriation and new information.
When I was reading this book, the Annie Oakley and Frank Butler song “Anything You Can Do” was running through my head, as I felt it proved a point between genders when it comes to science. Reading about how 13 phenomenal women took and excelled at numerous tests to prove that they were capable to be astronauts only to be told no, exasperated me....more
When I was reading this book, the Annie Oakley and Frank Butler song “Anything You Can Do” was running through my head, as I felt it proved a point between genders when it comes to science. Reading about how 13 phenomenal women took and excelled at numerous tests to prove that they were capable to be astronauts only to be told no, exasperated me....more
I had very high hopes for this nonfiction book. I thought the topic would be a great introduction to space and could also be integrated with science, as well as present a minority (women) viewpoint of astronauts. I really liked the photographs in this book as I think they broke up the text well and provided a good idea of what they were going through. However, at times I felt that the pictures had little to do with the text and only made the book more confusing. I thought this book had too many...more
1.Informational
2.This book serves as a unique tribute to the thirteen women who were willing to dream of space flight and pave the way for others who were able to live out that dream.
3.A. Organization B. The book is written as a chronological narrative about the role of women in space flight. C. It opens with eight of the thirteen women at the July 1999 Columbia launch, where Eileen Collins becomes the first woman shuttle commander. These women have been waiting thirty-eight long years for this...more
2.This book serves as a unique tribute to the thirteen women who were willing to dream of space flight and pave the way for others who were able to live out that dream.
3.A. Organization B. The book is written as a chronological narrative about the role of women in space flight. C. It opens with eight of the thirteen women at the July 1999 Columbia launch, where Eileen Collins becomes the first woman shuttle commander. These women have been waiting thirty-eight long years for this...more
In 1960, the Space Race was all the rage and astronauts were American heroes. They were also men. Enter Jerrie Cobb and the rest of the "Mercury 13". In the early '60s, 13 women took and passed the same physical and psychological tests that men took to qualify for NASA's astronaut training program. But the "Mercury 13" women were not allowed to become astronauts, despite the fact that they were expert pilots. In fact, no woman went into space until Sally Ride did in 1983 and even then she didn't...more
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Tanya Lee Stone is an award-winning author of books for kids and teens. Her work, which includes YA fiction (A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl), picture books (Elizabeth Leads the Way and Sandy's Circus), and nonfiction (Almost Astronauts and The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie) has won national awards such as the ALA's Sibert Medal, SCBWI's Golden Kite Award, YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction, Jane Add...more
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Oct 26, 2009 07:09am