Synopses & Reviews
Maria longs to be an astronomer -- wish that burns as brightly as a star. But girls in the nineteenth century don't grow up to be scientists, especially those who are needed at home. Each night when her papa sweeps the sky with his telescope, Maria sweeps the floor below, imagining all the strange worlds he can travel to from the rooftop of their Nantucket home.
Then one night Maria finally gets her chance to look through her papa's telescope. For the first time, she beholds the night sky stretching endlessly above her, and her dream of exploring the comets and constellations seems close enough to touch.
Loosely based on the childhood of Maria (pronounced ma-RYE-ah) Mitchell, America's first woman astronomer, and illuminated by Deborah Lanino's star-swept illustrations, here is an exquisitely told story of a girl who yearns for adventure beyond her limited circumstances, and sets out to follow her heart.
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.
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.