Jim Ottaviani

There's a lot of information packed into this graphic novel non-fiction book, and while it's geared at kids it's still easily accessible and enjoyable for an adult to read. There was a lot of information that I already knew here (like the men at NASA thinking that 100 tampons for a 1 week trip was a reasonable amount) but also a lot that I didn't. For example, I didn't know before this that the first woman in space was Russian.

I really appreciated that instead of presenting this as a straight history book, they used Mary Cleave as a narrator for the book, making it feel more like a memoir. (Cleave was interviewed especially for the book, and it shows.) Having a narrator like that gave the author & artist someone to focus the story through, someone to make the history feel more personal.… (more)

Absolutely fascinating read about a man I knew next to nothing about. Ottaviani uses voice supremely well, and Purvis' art is colorful and engaging. Although there were a couple of Turing's ideas I had trouble wrapping my head around, I never felt lost within the story itself. The end felt a little abrupt and was bereft of dialogue. Given the chatty nature of the rest of the book, I suspect this was a stylistic choice rather an an editorial one. As much as I enjoyed it, however, I don't know that there's much kid appeal until late high school at the earliest.… (more)

This is a slightly fictionalized account of Dr. Mary Cleave and other "firsts" in the U.S. space program. This graphic novel uses humor to talk about the first mixed gender class of astronauts at NASA and some of frustrations and successes of the women in NASA's program. NASA has to catch up to the soviets who sent the first woman into space - Valentia Tereshkova. Mary Cleave's interest in space and her path to the space programs is a great story - glad to see girls about to read and see what's possible.… (more)