Lookup! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer - Robert Burleigh

Illustrated by Raul Colon

2013, Paula Wiseman; Simon & Schuster

HC 16.99 Carlisle's Bosler Library

32 pages

Goodreads rating: 3.79

My rating: 4

Endpapers: Dark Blue

Title Page:  two-inch strip on the top and a 1/2-inch strip on the bottom is an illustrations of the night sky looking through tree branches.  this is a nice model to share with kids what an appealing title page looks like.

Illustrations: Full page drawing on one page, text (many with lined borders) on the facing page, some double-page spreads

1^st line:  "Night after night, Henrietta sat on her front portch, gazing up at the stars."

Goodreads:  Look up! is a picture book biography of the astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. The story is of a little girl who loved the night sky, who loved the stars, who followed her dream and persevered academically in a man's field. Most astronomers, at the time, being men, of course. But she knew what she wanted, and she knew she could do it. Henrietta's job--she got paid thirty cents an hour--was not to gaze through the telescope. Her job was to examine, to study, the photographs taken by others. She was good at her job, and through her measuring, through her detailed study, she made an important discovery, a discovery having to do with measuring distances and the vastness of galaxies.

My comments on Goodreads:  Henrietta Leavitt certainly made huge contributions to astronomy, and this book clearly and cleverly shows the process she went through to discover them.  The illustrations are lovely, and the three pages of additional information at the end are perfect for the older reader and teacher (or parent) that want to learn more.  Included at some great quotes about stars, a glossary, deeper information about Leavitt's discovery, and a bibliography and list of internet resources. A MUST addition to a study of astronomy, women in history, or just a fascinating read for star gazers!

82. Invisible I: The Amanda Project Book 1 - Melissa Kantor

The cover says the author is Stella Lennon.
Stella Lennon is the pseudonym of a collaboration.
Melissa Kantor actually wrote this book.
Other writers will write the next in the series.
Harper Teen 2009
296 pages
Rating 4

Amanda Valentino, new to Orion and Endeavor High School, has befriended Callie Leary. And since Callie is a member of the "I-Girls", the most popular freshman, and Amanda has been pegged by the other three I-Girls as a weirdo, she keeps the friendship secret. But she has felt more special in Amanda's company than she has in a long time. Callie's living with a secret - her mother has mysteriously left with not word, no reason, and her father has hit rock bottom - the rock bottom of a wine bottle.

And then, one day in March, Amanda disappears. She has left mysterious messages for three different people - Callie, Hal Bennett, and Nia Rivera. A fourth message is left in and on the assistant principal's car in the form of colorful grafitti. Neither Callie, Hal, or Nia knew that Amanda had any other friends, and they are certainly not friends.....yet. But the mystery of Amanda's appearance brings them all together.

I was intrigued and interested in the story. There are a lot of questions, about Amanda and her lies and secrets, but especially about Callie's mom, her disappearance, and why her father hates the assistant principal so much.

The story ends with the creation of a website that the three create in the hopes they find other people who might have known Amanda. The website is available for all to see: http://www.theamandaproject.com/ . There will be seven more stories, all written, it seems, by different authors (much like The 39 Clues). This will be interesting, and I plan to continue with the series - starting with Book #2, Signals from Afar, by Peter Silsbee, out in June of 2010.

28. Every Soul a Star - Wendy Mass

For: Middle Grades & Middle School
Published: Oct. 2008
322 pages
Rating: 5

This is the second Wendy Mass book I've read and I've become a fan. She knows how to tell a good story. This one, told in three voices, is wonderful.

Ally's parents moved to the middle of nowhere when she was small. They run an unusual campground, the Moon Shadow. They chose this spot because it's the perfect place to see a total eclipse of the sun, and they've been preparing for it for years. Ally has been homeschooled, loves where she lives, and is an expert on the skies: comets, asteroids, stars, you name it. However, she knows very little about the world outside her domain.

Bree is a self-centered A-clique pretty girl who just happens to be the daughter of two scientific-geek parents. She has her summer...and her life...all planned out when her parents drop the bomb-shell that they are going to take over the Moon Shadow Campground, in the middle of nowhere, for three years. Bree and her younger sister will be homeschooled there.

Jack is a self-proclaimed loser. Pudgy, clumsy, and lacking any self-confidence at all, he has failed science and must attend summer school. When his science teacher propositions him to attend a two-week Eclipse tour to the Moon Shadow Campground as his assistant, he goes, but with great trepidation.

The three, of course, meet. They bond, along with two younger 10 year-old siblings and another male "camper" named Ryan, share astronomy adventures, and change, all for the better, of course. And readers learn a lot about astronomy along the way. It's a feel good book. I'm not sure how realistic it is, but I do feel that relationships like the ones formed in the book DO happen. There's even a wise old lady that always wears sweatsuts to get attached to. Lots going on. I did, indeed, enjoy reading this tale.

FIRST LINE: "In Iceland, fairies live inside of rocks. Seriously. They have houses in there and schools and amusement parks and everything."

I've done a little research on Wendy Mass. I like both 11 Birthdays and Every Soul a StarI'm going to read more of her this summer.