Shining Star

2024 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List
A 2024 NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book

“The compelling story is beautifully told via entertaining anecdotes interspersed with hand-lettered quotes from Rubin herself. Dreamy watercolor-and-ink illustrations capture the universe in deep purples and blacks, and it often appears as though Rubin is floating in her revered night sky…An entrancing introduction to Rubin’s remarkable life and scientific legacy.” —Booklist

“More women in STEM fields should be brought to young readers’ attention; this is a well-written, absorbing portrait of a brilliant female scientist in a particularly male-dominated field. Quotes from Rubin are sprinkled throughout, like stars. The illustrations, created with hand-painted watercolor washes and ink lines that were enhanced digitally, have a “cosmic” feel to them, with lots of night-sky purple, swirling planets, and starlike points of color. An admiring, respectful treatment of a highly accomplished scientist.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Meticulously studying the stars when few women could, Vera Rubin changed the face of astronomy and our understanding of the universe. With energy and elegance, author Suzanne Slade and illustrator Susan Reagan perfectly capture Vera’s lifelong love of the night sky and the role it played in helping us reimagine the cosmos, one packed with mysterious matter we cannot see.”— Ashley Yeager, Science News editor and author of Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter, and Beyond: The life of Astronomer Vera Rubin