Black Women in Science

by Kimberly Brown Pellum

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Black Women in Science is a collection of short biographies about American women of color in the STEM fields. Released 24th Sept 2019 by Rockridge press, it's 113 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. This is a well written group of biographies aimed at young readers up through middle school age. Although ostensibly written for a younger audience, I found it very interesting and many of the subjects were previously unfamiliar to me.

The biographies are arranged chronologically by birth date of the subjects, starting with Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831-1895) and ending with forencisist Gina Presley (1985-). The subjects are all inspiring and dedicated, intelligent and driven. The author uses age appropriate language to briefly describe some of the mind boggling racism, sexism, misogyny, and unfairness each of them encountered. I found their stories inspiring and (mostly) uplifting. I am encouraged to find more emphasis today on encouraging young people to follow careers in the STEM fields and hope that this book finds a receptive audience with young girls, normalizing and showing the possibilities that are available for everyone, not just some.

For Kindle Unlimited subscribers; this title is available in the KU subscription to borrow and download for free. It's also worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The art and illustrations are appealing and colorful. The links and quotations sections at the end of the book provide numerous good resources for further reading. There's a glossary and each of the included biographies has a sidebar section with questions for the reader as well as tips for further activities.

This would make a superlative school or classroom library book as well as a support text for a classroom unit on American history, women in science, scientists, etc.

Really well done.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.