"Exactly the sort of story Mitchell deserves — inspiring, full of charm, and a rich window into astronomy's past"
——Asa Stahl, astrophysicist and award-winning author of The Big Bang Book

"Captivated by the movements of the planets, comets, and stars from an early age, young Maria Mitchell would spend her nights atop the roof with her father learning how to use sky charts and the astronomical tools of the time. After viewing a partial eclipse, Mitchell’s childhood stargazing blossomed into her life’s passion. At 18, Mitchell became a librarian, one of the few professions available to women, and spent years teaching herself the complex mechanics of the sky’s movements. With this hard-fought expertise, she became the first American to discover a comet in 1847; this led to her becoming the first female professional astronomer and later, the first female professor of astronomy in the world. Wallmark charts this ascent with a colorful narrative that would certainly complement classroom curricula focused on STEM discoveries and trailblazing women in science. Wong’s illustrations are rich with 19th-century details ...this is a good addition to the field of STEM biographies."
——School Library Journal

"The inspirational story of the first female professional astronomer in the United States.
This engaging account focuses on 19th-century scientist Maria Mitchell’s passion for astronomy, her determination, and her achievements, among them her prizewinning telescopic comet discovery; her work on the Nautical Almanac, essential for navigation; and (after years as a librarian, self-educated in mathematics) her eventual position at Vassar College, where she taught women for more than 20 years—the world’s first female astronomy professor. The concise, clear text provides comprehensible explanations of her successes, though it does leave out some details, such as her family background, her unusual education, her founding of a girls school, and her involvement in the abolitionist movement. The annular eclipse that Maria regrets missing in 1831 at age 12 forms one bookend, deftly recalled near the end, when, missing another in 1885, she observes not a ring of fire but “another powerful ring—a ring of women”: her diligent students. The fine-line illustrations are equally spare but add just-right details, like a maritime chronometer and the book-lined Nantucket Atheneum, where some people of color can be seen. The astronomer’s hard work, delight at confirming her comet discovery, and pleasure in teaching are apparent in her facial expressions and body language. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will guarantee this trailblazing scientist her place among the stars. (Maria’s rules of astronomical observation, glossary, types of solar eclipses, timeline, selected bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 6-9)"
——School Library Journal

★NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book！

Maria Mitchell’s curiosity about the night sky led her to spend hours studying the stars. She discovered a comet as a young woman, winning an award from the King of Denmark for being the first person to discover a new comet using a telescope.

Now famous as “the lady astronomer,” Maria went on to become a professional astronomer, an unheard of achievement for a woman in the 19th century. She was the first woman to get any kind of government job when she was hired by the United States Naval Observatory. Then as the first woman astronomy professor in the world, Maria used her position at Vassar College to teach young women to set their sights on the sky, training new generations of female astronomers. Her story inspires all of us to reach for the stars.