Hidden Figures: Black Women Who Had "Leaned In"

One of the strongest arguments made in support of same-sex education relates to the benefits for girls. During the middle school years, pre-teens become more attuned to where they fit in the social order. For many girls, this means that being perceived to be "smart," particularly in math and science, is not an asset. As such, they begin to "dumb down" in math and science to become more desirable to the male sex.

It is no wonder, then, that I was thrilled that Hidden Figures (2016) by Margot Lee Shetterly was turned into a feature film. Not only did it feature females in a traditionally male-dominated field, but it also featured black females in ways not previously depicted in Hollywood productions. That this film is based on real-life people was even more appealing.

Hidden Figures, Young Readers' Edition (2016), I assume, is the more accessible 8-12 year-olds' version of the biography. Similar to the adult version, it relates the experiences of the black female mathematician pioneers during NASA's aeronautic golden age: Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who was not featured in the film. 

As a secondary source documenting the extraordinary challenges and successes of NASA and the black women who broke barriers at a time when opportunities were limited to them, the young readers' edition of Hidden Figures does an effective job of providing historical race-based context of the U.S. at the time, along with the history of what became NASA. As an engrossing piece of narrative nonfiction, however, this version misses the mark. From a technical standpoint, this text is redundant and disjointed for the age group. I imagine that those who are not strong readers would have a hard time keeping track of the people and details related. Assuming that the adult version is related in a similar style, the film improved on the actual text. 

One of the interesting aspects of reading this book was in being able to compare what I was reading with what was presented in the film. Interestingly, while the film centered around Taraji P. Henson's Katherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer's Dorothy Vaughan is featured as the central character in the book. In fact, Vaughan is presented as the cornerstone of the successes experienced by the other women featured--who were not each others' contemporaries. 

In all, because Shetterly shines the spotlight on a group whose contribution to air and space travel was previously in the dark, Hidden Figures, Young Readers' Edition is recommended.

Crossposted at CBR9.