Engineer from the Comanche Nation, Nancy Wallace (American Women in Science Biography) [Paperback]

Mary Ellen Verheyden-Hilliard (Author), Marian Menzel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: American Women in Science Biography

Nancy Wallace, an American Indian of the Comanche and Creek Nations, grew up helping out on her parents' small dairy farm near a tiny Oklahoma town. She loved reading and math and basketball and excelled at everything she tried. As a teenager she faced and overcame difficulties by making a long-range plan that led her to earn a degree in engineering and to begin her career with a large corporation

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

ea. vol: illus. by Marian Menzel. 31p. (American Women in Science Biography Series). CIP. Equity Institute. Oct. 1985. pap. $3.95. Grade 2-5 An inspiring group of biographies of women in science. Covering women from different ethnic backgrounds, these stories relate the lives of some successful contemporary professionals, concentrating on their childhoods. They discuss not only the successes but also the problems that each woman encountered. Comanche Indian Nancy Wallace became an engineer with one of America's largest corporations. Besides discussing her life, the book describes career options for engineers. Scientist and Governor, Dixy Lee Ray tells about Ray's struggles and accomplishmentsbeing the youngest girl to climb Mt. Rainier, earning a doctorate in marine biology, becoming the first woman to head the Atomic Energy Commission and the first woman to be elected governor of the state of Washington. Constance Tom Noguchi is the nuclear physicist who accomplished breakthrough research on sickle cell anemia. Agnes Naranjo Stroud-Lee made advancements in the field of birth defects. Elma Gonzalez struggled to become a scientist in charge of her own laboratory at UCLA, for when she was growing up she missed school every spring because of her family's migrant farm work. Children in the lower grades will enjoy these biographies, and those in the upper grades with reading problems will be able to use them for current biographical information. Deanna J. McDaniel, Elmwood Elementary School, Lima, Ohio
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Inspirational role models for young girls." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"These books explored an area never before [available] at this level." -- First Grade Teacher

"These books were fast moving and easy to read." -- Third Grade Teacher

"This is an excellent introduction to science units or career units." -- Second Grade Teacher

"This series is highly recommended." -- CURRICULUM REVIEW

"[W]ell-illustrated, fast-moving biographies...help elementary-age students realize the wide range of science opportunitites." -- COMMUNICATOR, National Association of Elementary School Principals

[The biographies] help childen...to see the connection--often so difficult for youngsters to grasp--between determination to persevere in the face of difficulties and later 'pay-off' with achievement in a variety of very exciting careers." -- NEWSLETTER, Association of Black Women in Higher Education

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 31 pages
• Publisher: Equity Inst (June 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932469108
• ISBN-13: 978-0932469106
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,436,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Mentoring for Minority women Scientists, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Engineer from the Comanche Nation, Nancy Wallace (American Women in Science Biography) (Paperback)

This book gives a young woman thinking about a career inscience a chance to see a warm engaging picture of a young nativeamerican woman scientist. Ms. Wallace's early inquisitiveness rings true as a way to identify a potential scientist. When I was a teenager I read a biography of Marie Curie, and I still remember the impact it had on my thinking that I could be a physicist. For Native Americans who have not had a change to know that people of their ethnic background can find a career in the special world of science and engineering, this book can serve as a similar spring board for a budding scientist. I wish there were more books like this to encourage young people of color to consider science and engineering as a career!