Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;Maria's wish burns as brightly as a star.andlt;/Bandgt; andlt;BRandgt; Maria longs to be an astronomer and imagines all the strange worlds she can travel to by looking though her papa's telescope. One night Maria gets her chance to look through the telescope. For the first time, she sees the night sky stretching endlessly above her, and her dream of exploring constellations seems close enough to touch. andlt;BRandgt; In this story, inspired by the life of Maria Mitchell, America's first woman astronomer, "viewers will find the cobalt-blue nights, lit with constellations that make imaginary (and actual) pictures in the sky, every bit as attractive as Maria does."
Synopsis
Young Maria yearns for adventure and finds it on the roof of her house when she peers into a telescope for the first time. Though girls were rarely scholars in the nineteenth century, Maria longs to be an astronomer like her father. She doesn't want just to sweep with a broom like other girls, but to "sweep" the stars with a telescope and discover truths about the universe.
Deborah Hopkinson lyrically articulates a child's longing to study the stars, an aspiration which eventually led the real Maria Mitchell to be the first American woman to discover a comet.
Synopsis
Maria's wish burns as brightly as a star.Maria longs to be an astronomer and imagines all the strange worlds she can travel to by looking though her papa's telescope. One night Maria gets her chance to look through the telescope. For the first time, she sees the night sky stretching endlessly above her, and her dream of exploring constellations seems close enough to touch.
In this story, inspired by the life of Maria Mitchell, America's first woman astronomer, "viewers will find the cobalt-blue nights, lit with constellations that make imaginary (and actual) pictures in the sky, every bit as attractive as Maria does."
About the Author
Deborah Hopkinson's most recent book was A Band of Angels, a Junior Library Guild selection that Kirkus hailed as "inspirational." She is also the author of Birdie's Lighthouse, a Parents' Choice Silver Honor awardwinner, and Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, the recipient of the 1994 International Reading Association award. A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Ms. Hopkinson has degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She now looks for comets with her husband and two children from the wheatfields of Walla Walla, Washington.