Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, illustrated by Laura Freeman

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly is the picture book version of her book for adults (which was also adapted for young readers and you can read my review here ) with illustrations by Laura Freeman . I'm grateful for this adaptation, as I am constantly trying to hook students on the young readers' edition and find it challenging to encompass the many layers of segregation and discrimination these remarkable mathematicians faced and the invaluable contributions they made to the space race. Hidden Figures sets the stage, letting readers know that having the best airplanes would help the United States win World War II and also that, at the time, computers weren't machines, but actual people like Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden. Shetterly then details the segregation laws that existed in Virginia at the time, the home of NASA's Langley Laboratory, writing, "Even thou