This is a wonderful biography of a woman who combined science and art to make a name for herself. Her discoveries helped prove they were mountains under the water, and that continental drift was a real thing. This book is lovingly done and well illustrated. For a children’s picture book it’s done in the first person which is highly unusual but very effective. This is a great biography for any library collection. ( )

Working in a time when women were still unwelcome in her field, Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor and provided convincing evidence for the previously rejected hypothesis of continental drift.

Burleigh's choice to write in Tharp’s voice makes the determined geologist’s story feel immediate, focusing tightly on her map that revealed the spreading Atlantic sea floor. He notes obstacles she overcame: a peripatetic childhood; gender discrimination; the superstition, still prevalent in 1948, that women were unlucky on ships; and disagreements about the drift theory even with her friend and colleague Bruce Heezen. There’s a short description of Tharp’s mapmaking process and a triumphant conclusion when the final, color version is published. But it’s Colón's watercolor-and-pencil illustrations that bring her story alive. Readers see the map-loving child, ships taking the soundings that provided her data, the cartographer with pencil in hand, both graphing and drawing, and, in a wordless double-page spread, the exciting revelation of the rift in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The distinctive combed swirls of Colón's art masterfully suggest light on a seascape, and people are realistically depicted. Backmatter includes more of Tharp’s story, useful vocabulary, bibliography and Internet links, and even “things to wonder about and do.”

An ideal introduction to a lesser-known scientist and an important understanding about how the Earth works. (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea is a biography that tells the tale of American geologist and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp in language that is student friendly towards younger readers. The book is written in the vivid image perspective of Marie Tharp in her love and desire to read and draw maps. The book includes how Marie Tharp examines maps from all over the world such as France, South Africa, and China however, Marie Tharp is shown within the booked to have an increased curiosity towards how the ocean would look like on maps regarding to only land maps being available at the time. Throughout Marie Tharp’s life, the book portrays how Marie Tharp was underestimated as a geologist due to her being a woman. As Marie Tharp continues her career, the author includes how Marie Tharp began with her mission on mapping the ocean floor. This book is an interesting book that can be correlated towards science, history, and geography content areas as it covers a historical figure that was the first person and the first woman to map the ocean floor. This book also covers oceanography and geology as it includes topics as plate tectonics or continental drift. This book can be used within a 6th grade classroom when covering the unit plate tectonics on how the continents drift every year. Additionally, since it is a biography, it can also be implemented within content areas such as language arts to portray the types of narratives such as first person, third person, etc. In the end, the book also contains important phrases to know with the definitions to serve as a reference for young readers. As an educator, I would recommend this book to my students to help them gain an understanding of plate tectonics and how the ocean came to be mapped. ( )

Despite the barriers in the 1940s for women scientists, Marie Tharp persevered and became one of the twentieth century’s most important scientists. This historical fiction narrative will inspire boys and girls alike. Author’s Note, Vocabulary, Bibliography, Interesting Websites, Things to Wonder about and Do.

The true story of Marie Tharp, who helped pioneer the mapping of the ocean floor. ( )