Laura R.

Hidden Women

Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race by Rebecca Rissman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nicely done middle-grade version of Hidden Figures would be the best way to describe this, though I have to say I have only seen the movie and not read the book, so that may be to simplified, although the bibliography does list that book, as well as others, as one of the author’s sources.

What is nice about this is how Rebecca brings in what was going on socially while these women were working for NASA, about the civil rights movement, and the cold war. And the story does not end with with the landing on the moon, but goes as far, in the final chapter, the epilogue as talking about where women of color are today, in the agency.

Would recommend this for middle school classrooms and libraries. Lost of positive stories of women working to advance despite obstacles. Good to get the story out for the younger readers too.

Thanks to Netgalley and Captstone for making this book available for an honest review.

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The Pullman Porter

The Pullman Porter by Vanita Oelschlager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great book for teachers or curious students about what was important in the lead-up to the Civil Rights movement. I was not aware of the history of the Pullman porter, nor what part it played in the Civil Rights movement.

Short, brief sentences, easy to read, great pictures, fun facts. This was a delightful book to read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Young, gifted and black

Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present by Jamia Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, as the authors point out, is written in the spirit of the song “to be young, gifted and black.”

Not all the men and women in this book were young when they became famous. But, it is important to see that there are others who had dreams, before you, who succeeded.

And it may be that you have never heard of Matthew Henson, but he was an explorer who was the first African-American to trek in the Arctic, despite the fact that he didn’t learn to read until 12, and found work on a merchant ship, where the ship’s captain taught him. He was right along there with Admiral Perry when he went to explore the Arctic.

There are the usual people in there, of course, as well, such as Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver. But there is also Mo Farah, Kofi Annan and Jesse Owens. The time line spans the past and the present, including Simone Biles, the gymnast. This is also not limited to African-Americans, but Black people from all over the world. We have Oprah Winfrey next to Pelé. And each short bio has a quote. Nelson Mandela’s “It always seems impossible, until it it’s done”

This is a great book, that should be in every school and library. It will inspire, and delight. And show what has gone before.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Historical novel set in San Francisco

Under the Ashes by Cindy Rankin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Wonderful middle school historical novel. Well researched and what a great spunky protagonist as well as a guest appearance of Caruso. Truly captures the feeling of being in San Francisco on the morning of April 18th 1906.

I have not been on such a huge disaster as the 1906 earthquake though I have lived through two major ones in my lifetime. The author has caught the feel and comradely and fear that comes with it.

Would highly recommend it.

Thanks to netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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All the dirt

All the Dirt: A History of Getting Clean by Katherine Ashenburg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very detailed, yet fun book about the history of cleanliness, all over the world, although the main focus is the Western world. If all you know about how people kept clean, in the past, is the Roman bathes and perfume, then this book will fill you in on the different ideas about cleanliness, as well as how people achieved it from ancient times, to the present.

Each chapter begins with a view of what it must have been like in the time period, to be clean, taken from source material. And how our view of cleanliness changed, as the times changed, how some thought it was more holy to be dirty and some people thought it was the opposite.

Good book to have in the classroom, or home. Apparently, this is a child’s version of the adult book on dirt written by the same author.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Do it yourself, for cat projects

Engineering for Cats: How to Build a Cat Cave, Bunk Beds, a Drawbridge, and Other Custom Projects for Your Pet by Mac Delaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I may never build any of the things in this book, but at least I had fun reading about them.

The writing is very witty, and that is probably the best part of the book. Although my father was a carpenter, and built houses, as well as sets for the movies, he never passed the skill on to me, or bothered to teach me, because a) it was the 1960s, and b) I was a girl.

Still, I can appreciate all the plans in this book. Some are super simple, that even I could probably make them, such as a scratching post, although, those are cheap enough to purchase. The things that facinated me in this book were things such as the exercise wheel, which would be quite expensive if you were to find one for a cat.

The author explains the principle here:

There are at least several differences between hamsters and cats. I’m not claiming to be able to tell them apart every time—the majority of animal DNA is just cut and paste anyway, so that seems unrealistic—but my understanding is that there are some differences.
Fortunately, this project focuses on something that they have in common: the ability to expend energy running on a wheel.

And just in case you want to see what the finished product looks like, here it is:

I would recommend this book to people who have the skills, or want to learn the skills, to build things for their cat(s). Very detailed step by step directions, as well as a list of what tools you will need, plus how long it will take you to build each object.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Manga Explained

Maido: A Gaijin’s Guide to Japanese Gestures and Culture by Christy Colon Hasegawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Have you ever read manga and wondered what it meant when a character pulled down their lower eye lid, and stuck out their tongue? This book has the answer. Have you wondered what some of the gestures in Japanese movies mean, that seem to make no sense? This book probably has the answer. Have you just wondered how people in different countries use hand gestures, then this book is also for you.

There are things that make sense being only seen in Japan such as the gesture that means that someone has a big nose, which means they are arrogant. It can either be based on a Tengu, which had a big nose, or on Westerners from the Edo period, or after WWII, whom the Japanese considered to have large noses, and were arrogant.

The book is full of pictures of a lots of different Japanese doing these gestures, as well as an explanation for each one. It is written in a light, breezy style. Below is an example about the expression for Hooray: Banzai

If you ever wanted proof of how definitively we have put our samurai warrior past behind us, this gesture should be enough. We’ve taken of the most fearsome expressions in the language and turned it into something to shout at parties. That’s progress.

And the expression with the eye and the extended tongue? That is giving someone the evil eye.

Highly recommend this book to those who have an interest in gesture, in Japan, in anything Japanese, or are just curious as to what gestures are like in other countries. A fun quick read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Freedom, or not

Freedom’s Just Another Word by Caroline Stellings
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was a little too young in 1970 when this book takes place, so I don’t remember too well the things that were going on then and I certainly was not a young black woman living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. And yet this novel felt so real so true to the time that once I got past the introduction I was hocked on her voice and her dream of becoming a blues singer

This is the story of how Louisiana meets Janis Joplin and is offered a chance to audition if she can get down to Austin Texas in time.

And you would think that would be enough to the story but this is not a simple road trip, but a journey of thoughts as well as places. The world is changing in 1970, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

I throughly enjoyed this story and felt the author got everything right including Janis Joplin. I highly recommend this book. Well done historical fiction.

Thanks to Netfalley for providing this book for an honest review.

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Some Canadian Women You Should KNow

150 Fascinating Facts About Canadian Women by Margie Wolfe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quickly, name three Canadian women. If you are not from Canada, do you even know three? You may know more than your think, and this book will introduce you to a whole lot more. Did you know Samantha Bee, of Full Frountal fame, is Canadian? Did you forget that K.D. Lang is Canadian? Did you remember that Buffy Sainte-Marie was?

Americans know who Rosa Parks was, but what about Viola Desmond, who would not give up her seat to a white patron in a movie theatre, and was arrested for that, and will soon have her image on the $10 bill.

And while readers might know that L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gabeles, did you know that the book is so loved in Japan that a Japanese businessman once paid more than a million dollars for potatoes because they came from Prince Edward Island, where she lived.

It is a very short book, but very cool and can pique your interest in all these women, that you might end up reading a bio on any one of these 150 women.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Tor Short Story

When Stars Are Scattered by Spencer Ellsworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I do love me some Tor Stories on Thursday.

I love when SciFi makes you think, or makes you work for your story. As someone who isn’t Muslim, having the main characters, though technically not the protagonist, because he is an atheist, be Muslim, gives me, at least the “other” that so often happens in well written speculative fiction.

The bad guys, the other, are not the kite creatures, that are native to the land, but the Christian settlers that have also taken up living on this planet, and are only just tolerating how the Muslim are treating these beings that they see as pests, and the Muslims see as fellow beings.

Interesting story, well written.

Apparently the name of the short story is taken from the Koran.

Read it online at their site.

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