A beautifully illustrated glimpse at women in the space sciences.

Searching Beyond the Stars profiles seven women scientists and explores their impacts on various fields related to space. There are also notes about the racism and sexism endemic in STEM and provide fun facts about science. Amanda Key created fanciful and informative art to go along with the information.

Overall, I love any book that introduces science to broader audiences. This book gives us some interesting science knowledge and historical and current perspectives of women in science. For young readers, they'll be able to see some of the major open questions in space sciences and ways they may be able to impact these fields if they pursue careers in STEM. I definitely think this is a great option for anyone interested in science or space!

Searching Beyond the Stars: Seven Women in Science Take On Space’s Biggest Questions, by Nicole Mortillaro and illustrated by Amanda Key is a well-intended book that redresses a long-standing issue — the erasure of women and minority contributions to the sciences (particularly astronomy) and the obstacles these groups have had to overcome. It does so by introducing readers to seven highly accomplished and important women in the field. Unfortunately, while the book is solid in terms of content, it’s structure and writing leave something to be desired, though it's still a worthy book to read and/or have in a public/school library or classroom.

The first profile is probably the one, perhaps the only one, that most readers will recognize — Katherine Johnson, whose name finally entered the public consciousness via Hidden Figures (the book first and then the movie). Mortillaro does an excellent job in detailing the integral role Johnson played in early NASA achievements, and in later decades. Other women covered were:
• Jill Tarter: a pioneer in attempts to find alien life via SETI
• Emily Lakdawalla: communicates the wonders of space science via her role in the Planetary Society
• Tanya Harrison: An Astrogeologist who played a key role in Mars rover missions and began the Women in Space conference series
• Sara Seager: Works on finding/analyzing exoplanets
• Renée Hložek: an astrophysicist exploring both the beginning and the ending of the universe
• Ashley Walker: an astro-chemist who explores the possibility of life on other planets

Besides the profiles, the book I filled with numerous asides that explain scientific concepts, give some historical references/context, and offer a very brief discussion of sexism and racism in the STEM fields (several of the women above are heavily involved in combatting these via groups, social media, conferences, etc.)

The profiles themselves are solid enough and do a good job information-wise, and the science concepts are for the most part explained concisely and clearly enough for the target MG audience. The language and style are adequate I’d say, but flat, not offering much beyond the information itself. That’s obviously the important part, but some livelier, richer prose would have enhanced the reading experience, similar to what the pleasant illustrations did.

More problematic are the, I’d say, too-frequent interruptions via the sidebars, insets, etc. I will say this issue was exacerbated by the e-book formatting, which had these textual asides enter in abruptly, but still, ignoring that, the frequency of the sidebars, and sometimes their somewhat tenuous connections made for a choppy reading experience.

In the end, as noted, it’s a worthy book to have in a classroom or library for sure. On an individual level, I’d describe it as more a check-out-of-the-library book versus a buy-to-own book. An important text for both boys and girls as well as for members of minority groups (girls for the information and inspiration, boys so their eyes might be opened a bit and to encourage them to be allies). I just wish it had met its potential more fully via style and structure.

We learned so much from this book! There have been so many women who have made ground breaking discoveries in science. The book is well organized and has such beautiful illustrations. It would make a perfect birthday or Christmas gift.

Thank you NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd. for the opportunity to review this book.

“Searching Beyond the Stars” written by Nicole Mortillaro and illustrated by Amanda Key, aims to address ‘Space’s Biggest Questions’ by featuring seven female scientists representing various fields. This book presents answers to these key questions while providing biographical information about each scientist. Unfortunately, this book was not what I hoped it would be. The writing, though generally clear and direct, repeatedly ricochets between technical descriptions and answers to biographic information and political treatises. Overall, Mortillaro tries to synthesize too much in one book. If we want to celebrate the accomplishments of women and minorities in the sciences, it would be more effective to let their work speak for itself and treat the socio-political issues more thoroughly and directly by other means (By writing an illustrated book about the challenges faced by the New York birder, for instance). The at times well-intentioned politicized content is not always fully integrated within the framework of the book as set out, leaving the reader feeling that the book is more about the politics of women and minorities in sciences than about their accomplishments and continued work.

Teacher Tips

* I might use this book selectively, presenting the concepts related to space sciences and what each scientist is trying to achieve and how she’s working towards those aims

* The glossary and the technical definitions in each section are helpful and informative

* The presentation in the appendix about the contributions of other women in space sciences is a good jumping off point

“Searching Beyond the Stars” is a beautifully illustrated collective biography about seven female trailblazers in the field of astronomy. Great pop out text provides interesting facts, context knowledge, and definitions. It’s appropriate for those readers who want to know more about space along with those who are looking for female role models.

Searching Beyond the Stars profiles seven women within the field of astronomy from the mid 20th century through to present day. The focus is not only on their accomplishments and contributions within their fields, but the hardships they faced due to gender discrimination and racism.

Beginning with Katherine Johnson, who most people know from Hidden Figures, her story details her perseverance in education for herself and the calculations she made for NASA. Jill Tarter is another name I know as the cofounder of the SETI institute. Jill made strides in listening to space through radio waves and cataloging star systems that could be habitable based on her research. Emily Lakdawalla is a contemporary scientist whose focus is to bring space education to the masses in interesting and easy to understand ways. Tanya Harrison helped to engineer the Mars Rovers and discovered many different geological aspects on the Mars surface. Sara Seager focuses her work on finding exoplanets, especially exoplanets that might support life. Renée Hložek studies how the universe changes over time and ultimately how it will end. Ashley Walker studies the chemistry of other atmospheres to see if life could exist elsewhere.

Each woman's journey into their fields and what sparked their interest from chemistry, physics, geology, history or just the love of outer space, showing that there are many different routes into astronomy. Their stories are accompanied by easy to read facts that break down the science of what they are studying with background information and vocabulary. Written for middle grade readers, Searching Beyond the Stars encourages you to find your curiosity.

This book gave a lot of information about each of the people spotlighted. In addition to information about the people, information about the science they were involved in was plentiful. Definitely a must read for young science enthusiasts. Thank you #netgalley for giving me a copy of this book.

This book contains biographical and scientific information about five women who have made an impact in the field of space exploration. There are 5 sections, each about 15 pages in length, tell the story of a woman, her contributions and achievements and other important biographical information about her life and career in science. Additionally, sections include illustrations, time lines, text boxes with facts, quotes and subsections to support the reader in comprehending the information.

As a grade 3 teacher I would definitely consider purchasing a copy of this book for my classroom library. There is quite a bit of text on the page, so it is likely aimed at slightly older children, but I think that some younger elementary age students could still enjoy this book, especially if reading it with an adult. I think the content would very interesting for middle grade students, and also feel that the message; that women can make and have made huge contributions to fields like astronomy, which are typically very male dominated. This book shows readers that with true dedication and passion, gender and race are hurdles that can be surpassed. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 8-14 range. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

A fantastic, age/grade appropriate intro into the women that made made astro history.

Beautiful illustrations, and I especially appreciated the timeline illustrations of the featured scientists. I'm glad we are starting to include scientists' online influence as part of their overall scientific influence - scientific reporting can be really dense and seem so far removed from the public. The advent of Twitter and TikTok has come with its share of issues, but it has also allowed a new generation to access bite-sized pieces of information that concisely breaks down scientific concepts.

I've always been interested in astronomy. though I got my Bachelors in Neuroscience. As an adult, I learned things from this book. It's an excellent addition into the Juvenile/Young Adult collection on Astronomy and I hope we'll see it in my library on its pub day!

What a great introduction of STEM to children, especially young girls. Searching Beyond the Stars is an anthology of great female scientists. It highlights their life and achievements to science while also talking about how women in science have been held back or had their work stolen or faced racism and other discriminations in the field (and how they overcame those problems anyway). This is a great addition to children's libraries everywhere!

thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Searching Beyond the Stars contains the story of seven women who have been trailblazers in the field of space exploration. I liked learning the histories of each of the women, as well as general facts about space. I also appreciated the definitions, and how the writer didn't assume the reader knows what radio frequencies or satellites are. The illustrations weren't too frequent to distract from the writing, but just enough to keep the story moving along. A must-have for any child or adult interested in learning more about science!