TITLE: Mae Among the Stars
Written by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington (Harper, 2018), 42 pages, $17.99
STORY: A black girl growing up in the 1950s in Decatur, Ala., decides that her ambition is to see the Earth from as high in the sky as the moon and stars. Her mother explains that she will have to become an astronaut to get up there.
"An astronaut? Do you think I could do that?"
"Of course you can," her mother says. "If you can dream it, if you believe it and you work hard for it, anything is possible."
Her schoolteacher doesn't think so, and she suggests the girl should aim to be a nurse instead. Other kids snicker. Mae is bereft -- until her mother pronounces that teacher silly.
Her loving encouragement inspires little Mae Jemison, who is more than willing to work hard. She grows up to become the first black woman in space. And by the way, this is a true story.
Burrington's lovely watercolor illustrations depict graphically pleasing, rounded faces with simplified features, onto which young readers can project their own dreams. As Mae dances with her mother, the stars light up the background. Even the cat is happy.
What a swell story to share with little girls who might enjoy a career in science.
-- Celia Storey
Read to Me is a weekly review of short books.
ActiveStyle on 07/15/2019