Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

Recommended Ages: 5-10

Written by Margot Lee Shetterly. Illustrated by Laura Freeman.

In the years leading up to the space race between the United States and the USSR, “computers” were people who did high level math problems.  This engaging picture book tells kids about four Black women leaders whose math skills kept countless pilots and astronauts safe during their missions. Young readers will also learn how Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden had to push repeatedly to break through racial and gender barriers. For example, Johnson wanted to go to research meetings with the other experts on her team. Her boss refused, saying that women couldn’t attend. But Johnson’s dogged persistence eventually won her entry. Mary Jackson wanted to become an engineer, but officials at aeronautics lab said it was impossible.  She would need to take high level math classes at a school Blacks weren’t allowed to attend. Jackson persisted, and became the first African American woman engineer in the lab.