Sally Ride: Life on a Mission by Sue Macy Published by Aladdin, 2014 This book is recommended for young readers from 8 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 1170L (MetaMetrics) For a “Read and Discuss” assignment, I picked up the book, Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space. I already knew a little about Ms. Ride and I did enjoy the format of the book that I read, particularly the pictures. It was primarily pictures and was laid out almost like a scrapbook with family photos of Sally, her dog, and her friends overlapping one another along with items of interest such as pages of Sally’s journals and her tennis association membership card.
I had a few problems with that book, even though I thought it was okay, and I believe it would be a good book for a reluctant reader. I felt the writing was uneven and the author, Sally’s partner for the last 30 years of her life, may have been a little too close to her subject to provide an unbiased reporting. I also felt like there were times that O’Shaughnessy inserted herself a little too much in the narrative. Few readers would reach for that book because they wanted to know about Tam O’Shaughnessy. I felt like she should have kept the focus on Sally and Sally’s accomplishments. Which is why my recommendation for a book about this remarkable person is Sally Ride: Life on a Mission by Sue Macy. I felt that it did a good job blending a biography of its subject with a brief history of the times and a ton of interesting information about the space program. Sally Ride was not only the first American woman in space, but after leaving NASA, she became a professor who taught physics and biology at several different universities, made hundreds of speeches all across the country, appeared on TV, authored several books, and even founded a company to help make science interesting for young students. The author opens with a chapter about Sally’s unconventional childhood which included a year in Europe and tells us about Sally’s love of books, science, the L.A. Dodgers, and tennis. Macy writes about the influence of a very special high school teacher who helped nurture Sally’s love of science, particularly physics. Macy quotes Sally saying that this teacher “gave me a lot of confidence in myself at the time when…I needed it” (p. 14). Girls in the ‘60s weren’t encouraged to participate in sports or expected to be interested in science or math. The author tells us that when Sally enrolled at Stanford and majored in physics, there were only a few other female students and no female physics faculty members (p. 17). It was a different time, one that 21st century girls might be surprised to learn about, so it’s wonderful that the author explains this environment to her readers. Understanding this makes Sally’s accomplishments all the more incredible. As one of the first 6 women selected for NASA astronaut training in 1978, we learn that Sally was calm under pressure and was meticulous about learning everything she could about the space shuttle. In 1982, she was selected as one of 5 crew members to fly the space shuttle Challenger. She flew again in 1984, making her the first American woman to fly in space TWICE. She was scheduled to fly on the Challenger yet again, in July 1986, but disaster happened on January 28, 1986 when the Challenger exploded after liftoff, killing all aboard. Sally was appointed to the Presidential Commission to investigate the tragedy and served with legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong. Disaster struck again, to the Columbia in 2003, and Sally was again called to serve on the investigative team even though by this time her days at NASA were over. In one of the last chapters of her book, Macy tells us about Sally’s life after her space career. We learn about the books she wrote, her teaching, research she undertook studying global climate change, and the company she helped found to make science “cool” not just for boys, but for girls as well. She helped create a national competition called “TOYchallenge” where kids brainstormed ideas and created toys and games. Sally called this challenge “engineering in disguise” (p. 106) and was thrilled with its success. I’d mentioned the book weaves NASA facts into Sally’s story. There are some space shuttle “fast facts” (p. 41-42), 8 pages of photos, and a feature called “The Shuttle Fleet” describing all 5 NASA space shuttles in detail (p. 77-78). This book also helps the reader understand Sally’s place in women’s history with “Breakthroughs in Women’s Rights” (p. 58-59) and “Following in Sally’s Footsteps” (p. 95). Finally, the book provides a “Time Line” of Sally’s accomplishments (p. 126) and a helpful section called “Further Reading and Viewing” (p. 127-128) for readers who want to learn more about Sally Ride. A criticism I could share of this book is that it tends to be kind of dry which is a fault many find with a lot of biographies. The O’Shaughnessy book is certainly more fun and is an easier read because of all the photos and the simpler writing style. I’d mentioned that with A Photobiography I thought the writing was uneven. One page felt like it was written for middle-schoolers, but the next felt like a first-grade text. There’s no such problem with Life on a Mission. For serious readers interested in Sally Ride, or the space program, or women doing amazing things in general, Sally Ride: Life on a Mission is a book they’ll want to check out. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A fast-moving, straightforward and up-to-date biography” and says this “slim, empathetic account makes readers see the woman behind the achievement” (Kirkus Reviews, 2014). For readers who enjoy the author’s style and appreciate a well-researched nonfiction work, author Sue Macy’s books have appeared on several “best of” lists including ALA Notable Children’s Books and ALA Best Books for Young Adults. An excellent book by this author that is also about women’s accomplishments is Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) which received several honors including 2012 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction finalist (Macy, 2017). Resources: Junior Library Guild. (2017). Review of Sally Ride: a photobiography of America’s pioneering woman in space. Retrieved from https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/books/view/9781596439948 Kirkus Reviews. (2014, August 1). {Review of the book Sally Ride: Life on a mission by Sue Macy]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sue-macy/sally-ride-macy/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9781442488540/ Macy, S. (2014). Sally Ride: Life on a mission. New York: Aladdin. Macy, S. (2017). Sue’s news: Honors. Suemacy.com. Retrieved from http://www.suemacy.com/ O’Shaughnessy, T. (2015). Sally Ride: A photobiography of America’s pioneering woman in space. New York: Roaring Book Press.
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