You’re no better than anybody else, but nobody’s better than you. Katherine Johnson repeats her father Joshua Coleman’s words as a mantra throughout this excellent book. She sets her personal story in context with details about the cultural and political history of Jim Crow and the civil rights era, discussing how encounters with people who had control over her future often hinged on race. Her story is one of talent, hard work, patience, and determination. Her successes often came by being stubbornly competent and refusing to be discouraged until the people around her grudgingly recognized that they needed her skill. For example, she was brought into the Flight Research Division of NACA to analyze data from one flight test, and was expected to be returned to the computing pool afterwards, but, she writes: “Somehow the engineers ‘forgot’ to return me. Instead they just handed me the next set of calculations—and then the next. Then the next. Then the next. That’s when I realized that they needed me, Colored or a woman or not. And suddenly I found myself a research mathmetician!” ( )

audiobook (5+ hours)

children's middlegrade/teen nonfiction (biography, civil rights history, Black history, space travel history)
Well-written overview of Katherine's impressive life and the historic times she lived through--you can tell she is a skilled educator (as well as a prodigy at math). ( )

This is the autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. The book tells about the challenges that she faced as an African American and a woman. She was a genius, graduating from college at the age of 18. Still, mathematics was viewed as a subject for men. Johnson earned her place in a secret government project called NACA, which later became NASA. As part of the NASA team, Johnson played a very important role in calculating trajectories. She overcame prejudice and proved herself highly capable and very talented.
This book is a good addition to any classroom library. It is inspirational to anyone who feels that they may not be able to achieve a goal due to society's roadblocks. It also is very encouraging for those who find interest in subjects that they don't necessarily feel they fit into. ( )

This book is an autobiography of Katherine Johnson who tells how her life was beginning in 1918 to the present. Her dream job was to become a research mathematician which she was able to accomplish working with NASA. She tells what it was like living in 1918 when the civil rights movement was happening as well as her experiences being an African American woman pioneer. I highly recommend this book because it doesn't just add to the math aspect but also to the history aspect of education. ( )

The much celebrated African-American mathematician writes her autobiography for young readers, quite fitting as tutoring kids and helping them understand math has been important and satisfying during her life. Katherine writes about being 4 years old and helping her older brother with his math homework. Despite the obstacles facing blacks during her youth, her parents were determined that their four children would go to college. Their sacrifices ensured that they all did. A unique #ownvoices story that incorporates STEM, history and inspiration and brings a once-hidden figure to life. ( )