Almost Astronauts – Tanya Lee Stone

Almost astronauts: 13 women who dared to dream tells the story of how in the early days of NASA, women were kept out of the astronaut program.  No matter that the women tested were shown to have a greater tolerance to isolation then the men.  No matter that it is more cost effective to send women into space because they typically weigh less.  None of that mattered at the time.  Read this book to find out the reasons, which really were no more than bad excuses.  What you discover may be surprising.

This book is well written and has a lot of great photographs.  While reading I was entirely interested and felt excited, angry, sad, exhilarated, vindicated and so very proud.  I am going to stay Earth bound, but I am happy that there are women, and men, who are willing to go and explore beyond our planet for all of us.  Oh, and I am also thankful.

~ The author includes a lot of great references to read more about the Mercury 13 and the women who came after.

King George: what was his problem? – Steve Sheinkin Illustated by Tim Robinson

I read a book about the American Revolution over the holiday weekend. King George: what was his problem?: everything your schoolbooks didn’t tell you about the American Revolution.

This book has fun quotes, interesting tidbits and great illustrations.  Read this book and you will learn that John Adams and Benjamin Franklin did not share living quarters very well!

Did you know (or remember) that General Cornwallis had a spy in the position of his personal waiter? His name was James Armistead and he was a slave who got permission from his owner to join the revolution.  General Cornwallis eventually asked Armistead to spy on the Americans for him.  Ha!  A double agent!

This book was great fun to read.