By Piranha T.

The most common piece of writing advice is ‘write what you know.’ But what if nothing worthy of a story ever happens to you?

In Writing Radar, Jack Gantos proves that everyone has tale-worthy material in their lives, and it can be gleaned by recording it in a journal. He highlights ways to discover stories, including taking notes on people you know, recording the madcap stories which your family always tells, and jotting down unusual details which catch your attention. This book is funny, engaging, and reads like the stories it’s teaching you to tell. Interspersed are tales from Gantos’s childhood journals, where he dissects which elements make a good story.
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Writing Radar is a fantastic book for anyone who wants to write, no matter your genre; it helps people find great ideas and turn them into fabulous stories. But it’s also a perfect book for people who don’t think of themselves as authors—if you want somewhere to start, this book is excellent, just like Spilling Ink. I highly recommend Writing Radar to writers and non-writers ages eight and up, particularly those who don’t know where to find ideas. 

By Super Kitty

Have you ever heard of Maryam Mirzakhani? How about Chien-Shiung Wu? Or Mae Jemison? In Women in Science, Rachel Ignotofsky writes about fifty amazing women from around the world who made vital contributions to the world of science. Full of quotes, fun facts, and colorful illustrations, each page focuses on a different scientist’s life and achievements.

Interesting and inspiring, this book makes even the most abstract fields of science feel accessible—it’s almost guaranteed to get you researching more about the amazing people it celebrates! In many ways it’s reminiscent of Rad Girls Can, with its engaging, illustrated biographies of groundbreaking women and focus on encouraging girls to pursue their passions. (Though boys are sure to enjoy it as well!)

Many of the women featured in Women in Science have been largely forgotten, or in some cases were never properly recognized in the first place, and learning about them gives a different perspective on history—behind many incredible discoveries there are unsung sheroes who never received the credit they deserve. The movement to encourage girls to pursue STEM careers has led to the publication of many awesome books celebrating those little-known scientists. Women in Science is definitely a top pick.

By Super Kitty
 
Malala Yousafzai. Yusra Mardini. Madison Kimrey. All over the world, girls are making headlines, whether they’re breaking records, giving speeches, or fighting for social justice. Some have become celebrities, while others have worked against inequality in their own communities. And of course, there are those who are now grown up, but changed the course of history when they were girls.
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Rad Girls Can celebrates the accomplishments of almost fifty amazing young women, all under the age of twenty, who have in some way changed the world for the better. I’m always looking for books like this one, and it has become one of my favorites. Fun, empowering, and inspiring, not to mention beautifully illustrated, I would highly recommend it—especially to girls, but really to any readers who love learning about the incredible things kids can do. As Marley Dias, founder of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign, says: “You don’t have to be very old to start trying to fix the problems you see in the world around you.”

By Piranha T.
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During the two world wars, not only were the jobs for mathematics at NASA more important, there were less men to serve them. That’s why the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory of Hampton, Virginia opened its jobs to women and African-Americans, and how many talented women got the jobs.

Hidden Figures tells the story of four women who worked at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were four talented, smart, mathematically-minded African-American women who helped create faster airplanes, missions to the moon, and helped other extraordinary ventures. When Dorothy Vaughan first arrived at the laboratory, the women were reserved into ‘computing pools’ to do calculations for the male engineers, but by the time Kathrine Johnson helped send the first manned spacecraft to the moon, she worked side-by-side with some of the men.

In Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly tells the story of these four women who did incredible work at NASA and helped to launch Americans into space. It was an interesting book to read, because it was not only about these four women but also mentioned many others working in the same field. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Kathrine Johnson and Christine Darden were part of countless important calculations, and their discoveries in part sent men into space and to the moon. Although it’s not the normal kind of book we review, I enjoyed it’s engaging, informative text.

I’d highly recommend Hidden Figures for anyone looking for an interesting, informative, historical read for kids and adults ages 8 and up.