Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
About: In the early 1960s, as the Space Program was proceeding with the Mercury 7 astronauts, a handful of people asked "why not included women in the astronaut program?" Beginning with Jerrie Cobb, a top female pilot, a total of thirteen women went through preliminary testing conducted by Dr. W.R. Lovelace. This was not part of any official NASA program. Lovelace ran the privately-funded program. Attempts to make the program official -- or to include women in the space program as astronauts -- failed. The first American woman astronaut would be Sally Ride in 1983; the first American woman astronaut who was also a pilot would be Eileen Collins in 1995, over thirty years after the "Mercury 13" attempted to show they, too, had the "right stuff."
The Good: Stone is passionate about this story, and Susan Ericksen, the narrator, brings that passion to life. Listening to Ericksen is like attending a lecture by someone who loves a subject and wants to share that love with the world.
The audio does not have any of the photographs in the book; it does have a bonus CD with photographs and references and bibliography. The audio works extremely well all by itself, in part because of Ericksen's spirited delivery; but it's nice to have the bonus of photos and the full list of works cited. I do want to get my hands on the actual book, to see the other pictures I missed. But, if I didn't know about the pictures would I think something was lacking in the book? No.
This is a nonfiction book with an opinion, and not just an opinion that is being voiced. It's an opinion that wants to be persuasive. It's not so much about the women who underwent the testing; it's more about prejudice and institutional sexism. The intended reader of this book was born after both Ride and Collins went into space. To an adult (and particularly an adult whose school photo books had "what I want to be when I grow up" with "boy jobs" such as "astronaut" and "girl jobs" such as "teacher" or "mother"), that sexism is so understood and expected that every now and then I thought, "c'mon, how can you not know that?" I had to remind myself that today's teens don't know what it is to be told no, they can't do something based on sex; or to have the rules be made in such a way as to exclude them from participation.
So, yes, the problem with the women ever seriously being considered by NASA was that they lacked the specific flight experience of being jet test pilots. Since women were barred from being jet test pilots, the discussion ended, rather
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By: Lizzy Burns,
on 1/4/2010
Blog: A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: non fiction, audiobooks, space, sexism, Nonfiction Monday, tanya lee stone, candlewick, Brilliance Audio, astronauts, 2009, YALSA nonfiction award, equal opportunity, Add a tag
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By: Lizzy Burns,
on 1/4/2010
Blog: A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: non fiction, audiobooks, space, sexism, Nonfiction Monday, tanya lee stone, candlewick, Brilliance Audio, astronauts, 2009, YALSA nonfiction award, equal opportunity, Add a tag
8 Comments on Almost Astronauts, last added: 1/6/2010
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I'll admit, I read this and got really fired up about it (you have to give her credit for that), especially because of my background in astronomy. However, I never noticed or even thought about some of the less accurate details. I wouldn't have even worried about whether or not it was NASA or what she might have left out if I hadn't read the Mock Newbery blog.
Is it even more embarrassing to admit I'm a librarian? :) Thanks for keeping me on my toes and questioning!
I'd have to pull down the book to double check several specifics but I do recall that Jerrie Cobb held the altitude record, period - not just for women. Part of the flight time issue though is that yes, most of the guys likely had combat time - but women could not get combat time. So they would have been excluded on the basis of something they could have done but were denied the opportunity to do. However it is noted that many of the women ferried heavy aircraft during the war and that is certainly not light aircraft time. (In other words these were not Cessna 152 pilots going up against F-14 pilots.) And further, they passed the tests - and usually did better and that ought to count for something.
I thought the book was great but wished that a simple appendix had been included with the women's names, licenses they held and dates acquired and flight time held (and type) before acceptance to the program. That would have cleared it all up and I hope it is in future editions.
Also, recall that the whole jet pilot requirement was in not so much for women but to keep African American men out (namely the heroic Tuskegee Airmen). And this is pointed out in the book.
She has an agenda here but as the history is SOOOO overlooked and has been ignored for so long, I think the agenda is warranted.
As for the bits on Jackie Cochran, based on what I've read in other books about her, I believe them 100%.
Melissa, the whole NASA thing, I thought it was clear, but maybe because I knew? So that's why then I put down that a quick read could perhaps confuse it. Not that Stone was being confusing. I think this is a good book not just for what its about, but as an example of persuasive writing. I think it would be fun to have students look at some of the questions and ask themselves when and how information is included and presented.
Colleen, that type of Appendix sounds great! I had hoped for that in the bonus CD. I really wanted those types of details, just to know. Stone sets up the inherent, legalized sexism (ie, some states and rules about car renting) which made me want to know, for each of these women, what their story was that they did not just sit back and go with the status quo.
I would have liked to read more about Lovelace and what his motivation was. Was he really trying to introduce women into the program, or was he just trying to prove a point?
Having read this closely after Claudette Colvin, I was also struck by the apparent lack of a organization to back up what was trying to be done. It seemed more like invidivuals, sometimes working together, as opposed to a group with a strategy or plan.
I wonder if the NASA confusion might just lie in the fact that folks come into the book expecting space = NASA and not realizing that especially back then there were a lot of other agencies (and the military - remember this was all cold war) involved. It was clear to me that it wasn't all NASA - I don't now how much more obvious she needed to be. (In other words, it's not the author's fault if she points something out in the text but common reader expectation causes a lot of them to miss it.)
I guess it was more that I it didn't matter (to me) whether or not it was NASA (she may have been very clear and I may have been very dense). It didn't make any kind of difference in the story for me. I definitely need to up my non-fiction questioning, though.
Colleen, definately not the authors fault if they've stated x and the reader skims and doesn't realize it.
Melissa, good point that it doesn't matter for the book or the reader.
Surely it is reasonable to try to guess what the intended audience will make of it? If a sixth grader is going to read it and misunderstand than yes, I do think the author is to blame.
Anon, when I spoke about readers I meant intended reades. Will an intended reader misundertand? Only if they aren't paying attention. The author isn't to blame for a hurried read or a skim reading.