Coming October 28, 2025. Pre-order today!Women on a MissionThe Remarkable Heroes Who Put Men on the MoonBy: Suzanne Slade / Illustrated by: Molly MagnellNeil couldn't have walked on the moon without Josephine, Dee, Katherine, and the women of Team Apollo.T
By: Suzanne Slade / Illustrated by: Molly Magnell
This is the story of our daring quest to visit the moon, featuring the twelve talented women who helped get us there. These women performed a variety of daunting jobs to accomplish the first moon landing:
Despite sexism and racism, these “hidden figures” persisted, contributing to the space program and paving the way for future women engineers and astronauts. Women on a Mission will surely astound and inspire young readers, popping with the retro colors of the Space Race!
If you like this book, youll enjoy these:
Daring Dozen
To the Stars!
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Suzanne Slade, author
Suzanne Slade is a mechanical engineer who worked on Delta and Titan rockets for NASA. She has written more than 180 children’s books, including Daring Dozen: The Twelve Who Walked on the Moon and Mars Is: Stark Slopes, Silvery Snow, and Startling Surprises. She also writes stories about inspiring women in STEM, such as Shining Star: Vera Rubin Discovers Dark Matter and A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon. Suzanne and her family split their time between Illinois and New Hampshire.
Read more about Suzanne.
Molly Magnell, illustrator
Molly Magnell is a designer and illustrator who has worked with NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Scientific American, Caltech, and others. She has a special interest in breaking down complicated ideas (like quantum physics!) into something “more bite-sized” for everyday humans. She also enjoys drawing powerful women because she believes “it’s essential for people to see examples of women achieving great things.” When Molly isn’t drawing, she can be found petting stray cats in Brooklyn, New York.
Read more about Molly.
Kirkus Reviews
Salutes to 12 women who made significant contributions to the Apollo program.
Black human computer Katherine Johnson is likely to be the only name on this roster familiar even to well-read young students of the early space program. But after interviewing surviving subjects or their families and delving into oral histories and published accounts, Slade has provided readers with 11 more women who were active members of Team Apollo, including thermochemist and rocket fuel expert Reatha Clark King; aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross, co-author of NASAs planetary flight handbook and member of the Cherokee Nation; and Yvonne Young Clark, who earned a degree from Howard University in mechanical engineering and went on to design the rock box astronauts used to collect lunar samples. Along with capsule accounts of their lives and specific achievements, the entries include a variety of photos, peppy direct quotes, and Magnells painted views of the subjects at work in labs, offices, and control rooms. The author concludes with a shoutout to Sally Ride and the rest of the first class of women astronauts. As she notes, these lesser-known figures, too, are heroes whose stories need to be told!
Totally justified, if tardy, tributes to women who also had the right stuff to take us to the moon.
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-62354-395-2
Ages: 69
Page count: 48
10 x 10
Publication date:October 28, 2025
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