Book Review: Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by J. Ottaviani et al.

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier written by Jim Ottaviani and artwork by Maris Wicks

This graphic novel looks at the experiences of female astronauts, centering on NASA astronaut and scientist Mary Cleave. As a child, she wrote a letter to President Eisenhower asking to join the Astronaut Corps. He wrote back graciously declining her offer. Her ambition remained and was eventually fulfilled. The book chronicles all the challenges that went into joining the space program, with a little side stop in the Soviet Union to tell the story of Valentina Ponomaryova, the first female in space. The bigger context of women joining the American space program naturally fits into Cleave's story as she works through school, the application process, and the training process in NASA.

The narrative is fascinating, whimsical, and delightful. Cleve can give an insider's view of the space program with a lot of nuance and fun anecdotes. Her first mission, on the Shuttle Atlantis, is told in detail toward the end of the book. The end includes the authors' list of resources and some book recommendations for further reading.

Highly recommended.