Annie and her family are all black.Ī solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories. Backmatter provides further reading suggestions and information about the moon and four women astronauts, one of whom is Jemison. It’s unclear if Annie imagines this scene or if it’s her future-self exploring Mars, but either scenario fits the aspirational story. Annie jumps off a chair to “BLAST OFF” in a small illustration superimposed on a larger picture depicting her floating in space with a reddish ground below. There’s a celebratory mood at the culminating presentation, where Annie says she wants to “soar high through the air” like her basketball-playing mother, “explore faraway places” like her hiker dad, and “be brave and bold” like her baker grandmother (this feels forced, but oven mitts are part of her astronaut costume) so “the whole world will hear my exciting stories” like her reporter grandfather. Family members make guesses about her ambitions that are tied to their own passions, although her brother watches as she completes her costume in a bedroom with a Mae Jemison poster, starry décor, and a telescope. Readers will figure it out, however, through the title and clues Tadgell incorporates into the illustrations. As career day approaches, Annie wants to keep her job choice secret until her family sees her presentation at school.
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