Changing the Equation

Starred review from January 1, 2020

Gr 5-8-Bolden's broad view of STEM, including profiles of physicians and medical professionals, is aimed at middle grade readers interested in science careers. The book opens with a section ("In the Vanguard") devoted to black women who battled racism and discrimination following the Civil War. Rebecca Crumpler, who worked as a nurse, was born free in Delaware. She decided to move to Virginia right after the war to assist with the injured. Many women in the book earned pioneer status: the first to pass a state medical exam, graduate from medical college, practice medicine, or head a science department. Most poignant are the trailblazers whose discoveries, like a humane treatment for leprosy, resulted in their deaths from side effects of the experiment. The second section celebrates those who entered aviation, bacteriology, mathematics, and architecture. The third section features geneticists, marine biologists, and the inventor of the device to remove cataracts. Milestones that mark each era (the Declaration of Sentiments written in 1848 to advance women's rights; the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1964) are noted. Even though it is a pleasure to discover so many overlooked geniuses, including Angie Lena Turner King (Katherine Johnson's mentor), it's sobering to learn that only one percent of black women earned engineering degrees in 2015. VERDICT Bolden, a master of the collective biography, presents an impeccably-researched call to action, imploring black girls to fight the racial and gender imbalance that plagues the STEM field.-Patricia Aakre, P.S. 89, New York

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
African American women in the past and present have overcome racial and gender barriers to succeed in STEM fields. Bolden begins by providing background and context, explaining that traditionally STEM's definition did not include medical fields. Bolden, however, does include women from those areas, including Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, who "earned her MD in 1864--four years before black people in America had citizenship." Dr. Crumpler, like many discussed, combined her scientific knowledge with a commitment to serve the community. In the period after the Civil War that saw the establishment of black colleges, many of the subjects received degrees and taught in those schools. Following Plessy v. Ferguson, some worked in the institutions available to serve blacks. While there are obvious similarities in the stories presented, there were also some unique situations, such as Ida Gray Nelson Rollins'. The first black woman doctor of dental surgery, she came to the field after working for two white dentists who encouraged her. Many more were mentored by other African Americans who recognized their talents. Contemporary biographees include video game developers, computer scientists, and a founder of a nonprofit organization that encourages black girls to learn coding. Bolden's lively text, accompanied by archival images, underscores the importance of sharing these stories to understand the long tradition of black women striving in these areas. A worthy addition to the effort to tell a more complete and compelling American history. (source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

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March 1, 2020
Grades 5-8 This sweeping collective biography of American Black women in STEM careers brings the wide variety of their achievements into focus for middle-graders in this work by Coretta Scott King Honor Book author Bolden (Inventing Victoria, 2019). Including women from professions as diverse as computer science, marine biology, chemical engineering, and the medical sciences, each figure is given a few pages worth of description of their early personal life, educational pursuits, and career highlights, making for a somewhat formulaic approach to each woman's biography. Though the profiles necessarily lack detail, Bolden more than makes up for it in the variety of women featured, from the mid-1800s to today and including many unfamiliar names, such as video game developer Lisette Titre-Montgomery or marine biologist Joan Murrell Owens. Pullouts of vocabulary etymologies, quotes, and plenty of pictures of its subjects help bolster the biographies. Young people are sure to find intriguing role models among the many STEM all-stars in this comprehensive look at the achievements of gifted Black scientists and doctors. Final art not seen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)