Super Soaker Inventor Lonnie Johnson

August 1, 2017

Gr 3-6-A celebration of innovators and the various STEM fields they pioneered and loved. Throughout the series, the authors routinely but gently emphasize how interconnected the acts of studying, inventing, and playing are (especially in Lonnie Johnson)-a quality that makes these titles natural companion texts for maker spaces. Also, the initial focus on the childhood of each subject allows students to draw their own personal connections (a young Nikola Tesla unsuccessfully tried to fly, Ellen Ochoa's parents divorced when she was a teen). Bright, well-designed layouts make for an effortless reading experience, though the text can be vague at points; for instance, in Katherine Johnson, students may wonder why her town "did not have a high school she could attend." Upbeat profiles of admirable STEM figures and fine additions to biography collections.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2017
Grades 3-6 In straightforward chapters with plenty of photos, entries in the STEM Trailblazer Bio series showcase notable inventors and scientists who broke barriers in their fields. Super Soaker Inventor Lonnie Johnson is perhaps the best of the bunch: the authors explain Johnson's childhood in segregated Alabama, his career as a NASA engineer, the invention of the Super Soaker, and some of his later inventions and entrepreneurial achievements. Though they're a bit on the dry side, these biographies hit the major highlights of their subjects' lives, and with a broad range of topics in the series, including many contemporary women of color working in STEM fields, these will be useful starting points for students looking for research topics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)