Mae Among the Stars

Justification

Mae Among the Stars is a historical fiction picture book for young children based on the childhood of Mae Jemison, the first African American Woman to be sent to space. This book is on the Kirkus Reviews Starred book list. Mae Among the Stars also received positive reviews from Booklist, Horn Book Guide, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

Evaluation

The Illustrations in Mae Among the Stars are beautiful, warm watercolor style pictures. The illustrations depict an intelligent and imaginative young Mae Jemison who dreams of becoming an astronaut. Although space is a dark and cold place the illustrations by Stasia Burrington make space seem fanciful and almost inviting. Burrington uses warm tones to depict the joy and happiness Mae and her family show toward one another. The use of cool blue tones overlay pages illustrating Mae’s sadness as her teacher and friends discourage her dream. Burrington illustrates this story full of hope beautifully.

The theme of Mae Among the Stars is stated clearly many times throughout the story. It becomes a mantra for young Mae as she continues to discover her desire to become an astronaut. After a school project in which the students were asked what they wished to become when they grew up, Mae is laughed at by her peers and her teacher suggests a different profession. Mae’s mother, however, says to Mae “If you can dream it, if you believe it and work hard for it, anything is possible.” This theme keeps hope alive for many young children who read this book and want to become something more than others think they can achieve.

The mood of Mae Among the Stars is continually hopeful. Mae is faced with obstacles as she dreams of becoming an astronaut. The hopeful message her mother gives Mae of “If you can dream it, if you believe it and work hard for it, anything is possible,” can be felt by the reader as well. What is great is that not only is Mae’s mother saying to go for your dreams, she is also being realistic that it takes hard work. This is a beautiful balance of realism and hope for the reader.

Conclusion

Mae Among the Stars is not the most informative of books for those looking for information on astronauts or space. It is, however, a fantastic book of hope for anyone who dreams big. This book is recommended for young children or teachers in elementary. This book would be a great introduction to a unit on careers or goals for elementary students.

Citation

Ahmed, R., & Burrington, S. (2018). Mae among the stars. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publisher.