Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space

by Tam O'Shaughnessy

Selected for the 2016 National Science Teachers Association's Outstanding Science Trade Books List

Years before millions of Americans tuned in to watch her historic space flight aboard the Challenger in 1983, Sally Ride stayed up late to watch Neil Armstrong become the first person to walk on the moon. The next morning, she woke up to win her first round singles match at a national junior tennis tournament.

Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman Astronaut, is an intimate journey from her formative years to her final moments. Before she was an astronaut, Sally was a competitive tennis player who excelled at the game to such an extent that Billie Jean King told her she could play on the pro circuit. Before she earned a Ph.D. in physics, she was called an underachiever by her high school classmates. After her first historic space flight-she took a second in 1984-Sally continued to break ground as an inspirational advocate for space exploration, public policy, and science education, who fought gender stereotypes and opened doors for girls and women in all fields during the second half of the twentieth century.

This vivid photobiography, written by Sally's life, writing, and business partner, Tam O'Shaughnessy, offers an intimate and revealing glimpse into the life and mind of the famously private, book-loving, tennis-playing physicist who made history.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, LGBT, Biography Memoir, Space, Childrens

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

Tam O'Shaughnessy has been interested in science since she was a young girl. She studied biology in college, earning B.S. and M.S. degrees. While teaching college biology, she became interested in learning disabilities, and went on to earn her Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of California, Riverside. She has written 10 children's science books including The Third Planet (co-authored with Sally Ride), which won the American Institute of Physics Children's Science Writing Award.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a beautiful book, well-illustrated with photos, about a very remarkable human being--Sally Ride. She was the first American woman in space, aboard the Challenger in 1983. And then, again, in 1984, she went into space, again aboard Challenger. As a blurb says, it's a "loving tribute" by Sally's life and business partner, Tam O' Shaughnessy. Written for Young Adults, it's a book an adult can enjoy as well!

[Kaje Harper]

Apparently a children's or Young Adult biography of astronaut Sally Ride, written by her life-partner Tam O'Shaughnessy. This details the life of an admirable, interesting woman, and also our first LGBTQ astronaut (although they remained quietly closeted for most of their life together.)

I love the idea of showing our kids that people they admire may also be LGBTQ, and that it's really incidental to the rest of their broader story.

[Joe Farrar]

awesome book really makes you believe anything is possible....

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for school project

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a young girl when Sally Ride flew in space and was inspired by her. I was touring The American History Museum at the Smithsonian on the day she died. Reading the tributes that day as I placed my own, I was not alone. This pictorial biography is a wonderful expression of her life and a terrific source to learn more about her

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

SALLY RIDE: A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY OF AMERICA’S PIONEERING WOMAN IN SPACE by Tam O’Shaughnessy tells the inspiring story of a scientist and astronaut who advocated for space exploration and science education.

Written by Sally’s long-time partner Tam O’Shaughnessy’s, this visually-rich photobiography is filled with personal photographs and artifacts including school papers, ticket stubs, letters, and receipts that provide intimate insights into the life of this very private person. What makes this work particularly appealing and unique is the way the author weaves in her own thoughts and memories of Sally throughout the narrative.

Although Sally Ride was best known as a space shuttle astronaut, this middle-grade biography explores the entire life of this famous woman. Unlike most works of nonfiction, this book doesn’t start with a Table of Contents. Instead, it begins with a prologue sharing the story of how Sally and Tam met. The book is divided into sections focusing on Sally’s early childhood, her tween and teen years, her college years, her time as an astronaut, and her life as an advocate for science education. The book concludes with a cast of characters, timeline, and index.

Librarians will find this to be a popular biography. It’s easy-to-read and highly illustrated making it particularly useful for reluctant readers. Unlike many biographies that examine a famous person at a distance, this book provides a very personal look at this private person. The author does a stellar job addressing Sally’s love-life using an age-appropriate approach. Although Sally will likely be known for her ground-breaking firsts as both a female and lesbian astronaut, the book focuses on her life rather than these labels.

It can be difficult to find engaging biographies for the middle grades. Look for this work of nonfiction on the best of 2015 lists!

Published by Roaring Brook Press an imprint of Macmillan on October 6, 2015.

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the She Persisted: Sally Ride book and learning about this one, I decided to get this book from the library. It reads a little bit like someone's scrapbook as if they were sitting next to you telling you about the pictures and items you see. It was great to learn all about Sally and how inspiring she was. And it's by Sally's life partner so you know the author has intimate details about Sally.
I will say that some parts could have used better transitions. Like there would be something happening on one page and then next page was a completely different topic. But overall, I enjoyed it. I will have to check out some of the Sally Ride Science books!

As another reviewer said, I liked that this book features LBGTQ+ characters but it wasn't "wow this LBGTQ+ person did something amazing!" and more "Wow this amazing person also happens to be LBGTQ+." Like it's just one part of the person and I think that's how more books need to be.

[Daphne Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter liked it okay. She liked learning more about Sally's life. I loved the personal perspective of someone so close to the subject. I also loved hearing more about Sally Ride Science and the books they wrote together and festival work they did after Sally's career with NASA. Donna kept asking... what about Bear (Sally's younger sister)? So, we were happy to hear a bit more about her in a more personal biography.

It was definitely worth reading for empowerment purposes in my daughter's development.

[Raelene · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not a great week in the US, so I decided that I needed the comfort of reading about one of my favourite American women. This was lovely. I’m not sure if I learned anything new that I didn’t already know about from other books about Sally Ride, but I enjoyed it all the same.

The writing is quite simple and to the point, which I think makes this something basically anyone of any age could read. Which is lovely! Sally Ride seems like such an incredible person, I’ve loved finding more books about her and hope others feel the same. I’d definitely recommend this one.

[Cristi McGill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures were mostly fun and interesting, but the writing felt amateurish and the flow of the book was choppy. In some places the writing felt awkward and too young for the intended audience. The author inserted herself oddly - "I" and "me" halfway through the book. It might have read better had she kept herself in the 3rd person like every other character. The pictures saved it, but even those could have benefitted from some skilled editing.

[Dana Berglund · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great biography with lots of photos, and personal insight from Dr. Ride's partner, the author of this book. It covers her childhood, her path to NASA, some of her personal life, and her post-NASA career. A tragedy that she died of pancreatic cancer too early, but a triumph that her full story can be told now.

[lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely meant for younger readers, but it is nonetheless a very heartwarming and inspiring read... a quick one too!

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A labor of love by Sally Ride’s life partner Tam O’Shaughnessy. Lots of pictures and ephemera. Very touching especially at the end.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an easy read! The photos were fantastic. I very much enjoyed this book.

[Breanna Maughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this presentation of information about Sally Ride. Tam O'Shaughnessy is her wife and knew a lot about her and about more personal facts that others would not have known about. There were also a lot of photos that the public might not have been able to access and get.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Ride was a very private person who had a very difficult time with the demands of the celebrity she was thrust into when she became the first woman in space. Her obituary was when the American public found out that she had had pancreatic cancer, and that she was gay, and had a life/business partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy (also the author of this book). Therefore, this book lends insight that so many don't, because it has private stories and photos of Ride's life, told by the person who knew her best. At just over 100 pages, and filled with pictures on every page, it's very readable and succinct, but I do feel that O'Shaughnessy included some extraneous stories that someone with just a general interest in Ride's life may not want to hear. For example, there's a story of a time that a bird got trapped inside Ride and O'Shaughnessy's house that wasn't particularly interesting or key to a Ride biography.

At the same time, there were personal stories that I found interesting. I liked reading about the chauvinist questions that Ride was asked (and her responses!) during her press tour before heading into space. It was also interesting reading about the year in Europe she and her family took during her fourth grade year.

In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success, the concept that gets the most attention is the 10,000 hours, but Gladwell also discusses how being successful is often owed to being in the right place at the right time. I was struck by how much that factored into Ride's success. Of course, she was a fantastic candidate to be the first woman in space (she was a great scientist and athlete, photogenic, calm and collected, and many other traits perfect for an astronaut), but she also graduated at around the time that NASA had started accepting female astronauts. If she had just been born a little bit earlier she might not have been in the right place or time.

Overall, this book has plenty of information for a report (and there is a timeline in the back of mostly her professional accomplishments), but also would be a good read for anyone interested in learning more about the first woman in space.

Ages 8-12

[Christina Getrost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of the astronaut. Has a lot of insight into her life, with personal stories, as some of the book's primary sources are the author's memories of being Ride's partner for years, and family members' memories and archives. Full color photos presented in a nice layout, an exciting design, a mix of photos of people and of mementos from Ride's life that add that personal dimension. Matter-of-factly talks about her being gay but wanting to stay a private person and keep her personal life out of the spotlight. She was all about her work and about furthering the space program and STEM education for girls. Sweet and heartfelt writing in the section about Tam's and Sally's life together. Having just read another biography on her, I didn't know from the other book that Sally's sister also came out as gay. Overall, a solid biography about an inspirational woman who pioneered in the science field and was a role model for so many.

[Ginnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I'm not a huge fan of biographies but I actually enjoyed reading this one. I liked how it had a strong emphasis on the photos, and it's as if the reader is looking through a scrapbook of Sally's life. This book made me wish I had paid more attention in 2012, because by the end I was honestly bawling at the loss of this incredible woman. I can only imagine if I had been up on my current events at the time and how I would have felt when it was happening in real time. I thought this book really gave me a glimpse into her life, and it was wonderful. This book was a breath of fresh air to me, and I loved every page of it. I hated bawling at the end, but that comes with the territory of such a wonderfully written book.

[Alison Smolinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was extremely interesting to me. I usually don't really enjoy or understand at times when books only have pictures but this one was an actual biography of the famous Sally Ride's life. Sally Ride was an American physicist and astronaut who joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. This book shows many different pictures of what goes on throughout Sally's life, almost like a scrapbook of her life. I use to scrap book when I had time on my hands and absolutely loved it. I thought the pictures and this book really gave me glimpse into her life and she seemed like an amazing, inspiring women in our history.

[Jeani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography has a strong emphasis on photos and it can seem as though one is looking at a scrapbook of Sally Ride's life. It's a respectful biography that probably comes as close as one is going to get to the real Sally Ride, considering that it's written by her longtime collaborator who we learned after Ride's death was also her partner of over 30 years. As a primary source of information herself and with access to Ride's friends and family, Tam O'Shaughnessy has written a reliable and accurate biography of America's first woman in space.

[KJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am off to try to find the NASA patches I used to collect after my grandparents moved to Florida, not too far away from the Kennedy Space Center. LOVED THIS middle grade biography! It's like a scrapbook of her entire life - and what a life! Longer review to follow after I find my own science memorabilia. Feeling inspired and even more committed to STEM programming at the library.

[Barb Fecteau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I guess I should have paid more attention to current events in 2012, because when I got to the last few pages of this book, I had tears running down my face at the loss of this wonderful woman. It helps that Tam O'Shaughnessy was her partner and made her come alive on the page. This is a fascinating and moving book about a great American.

[Stephanie Croaning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very thorough and engaging view into the life of Sally Ride. It doesn't just look at her accomplishments as an astronaut, but also delves into her childhood, life after NASA, and her insecurities and trials. The photographs and primary source materials bring Ride to life as a complete person.

Appropriate for middle grade and high school.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a personal history of Sally Ride written by her partner. Not too technical......well think it is geared to younger people anyway.

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved all the photos! Writing a little stilted though.

[Kathryn Page]

Biography: Interesting book with pictures that really help tell the story of her.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable story of a remarkable woman!!

[Lisa Francine]

3.5/5 stars
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”
RIP Sally Ride, July 23, 2012
Age 61