She Persisted: Sally Ride

She Persisted

by Atia Abawi, Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrations)

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger comes a chapter book series about women who stood up, spoke up and rose up against the odds!

As the first American woman in space, Sally Ride broke barriers and made her dreams come true. But she wanted to do even more! After leaving NASA, she created science and engineering programs that would help other girls and women make their dreams come true as well.

In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Atia Abawi, readers learn about the amazing life of Sally Ride--and how she persisted. Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton!

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Science, Biography Memoir, Childrens

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

Atia Abawi is a foreign correspondent and author based in the Middle East.

From an early age, Atia knew she wanted to be a journalist. After graduating from Virginia Tech, where she anchored the college’s local television station VTTV, Atia volunteered and was then hired on at CTV 76 –a local TV station in Largo, MD. In Maryland, Atia covered a wide range of stories – from politics to the impact that drugs and crime had on the local community - before moving to Atlanta to work for CNN.

At CNN, she started in the Media Operations department before making her way to the international desk. Within 2-years Atia was out in the field, producing on stories that included Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in Pakistan and the war in Iraq. A year-later she was hired to be CNN’s Afghanistan correspondent and manager of its Kabul bureau – an operation that she organized and set up.

In Afghanistan, Atia spent time traveling and embedding with U.S., NATO and Afghan forces -including during major military operations. She has also interviewed numerous Afghan, International, and American politicians and generals.

Outside of Afghanistan, Atia reported on various international stories for CNN -including the Aung San Suu Kyi trial – where she had to sneak into Myanmar’s military state and film covertly - and the Gaza Flotilla attack of 2010 by Israeli forces.

In 2010, NBC News hired Atia to report and manage its operations in Afghanistan. Additionally, she also reported from London as part of NBC’s Royal wedding coverage, and was a part of the NBC News special report after the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, providing analysis and commentary. She was also able to obtain an NBC Exclusive interview with President Hamid Karzai in 2012 - the first for the network in a decade.

After nearly 5-years of living in Afghanistan, Atia moved to Jerusalem in January 2013. In that year, she covered President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Israel and Palestine, the military coup in Egypt, and the Kenyan mall siege by Al-Shabab militants among other stories.

Atia’s first book, “The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan” was published by Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Group, in September 2014.

Atia Abawi graduated from Virginia Tech and was most recently awarded their Outstanding Alumna honor. She is fluent in Dari and Farsi. Born in Germany, she moved to America at the age of one, growing up in Fairfax County, Virginia. Atia is married to FOX News Correspondent Conor Powell.

Reviews

[donna backshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful celebration of Sally Ride's life and legacy.

Many people at that time thought that physics wasn't a good subject for women to study. They thought women couldn't handle it, and some people at Stanford agreed. One male professor is said to have stood up and declared, "What are these girls doing here? You are taking jobs away from men!" But Sally persisted, because she knew what she wanted. She had been raised to believe she could do anything a man could do.

And, naysayers be damned, she did. She persisted, as a scientist and an athlete. In 1983 became the first American woman in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger, then she became a professor to teach a new generation of women in STEM. She is an inspiration for every girl who wants a woman to look up to, who knows there's more for her than she can imagine.

Sally Ride persisted, and she would want you to do the same.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always like to preface these reviews by saying I'm aware I'm not the intended audience for these middle-grade chapter books. But let me tell you this — younger me would've been all over a series like this. This has been my favorite of those I've listened to so far. While it covers her youth and journey to become the first woman in space, I think the reason I enjoyed it so much has to do with her involvement with the Challenger (before the disaster) and her contributions to the Rogers Commission Report. The Challenger Disaster is my earliest "news" memory so this hit me in a different way than some of the others. I also appreciate how each of these books ends with suggestions for how the reader can persist.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a children's librarian, I'm working my way through this series as it becomes available to me. While it makes sense that each is written by a different author who can give her own version of this subject's life story, this does lead to inconsistency of quality in my experience. That being said, this was one of my favorites so far! Covers Sally Ride's life from youth, up through her time at NASA, and even into what she accomplished afterward. Accurately mentioned that Sally Ride was the first *American* woman in space and that the Russians did actually "beat" us in that regard. Too often, Americentric treatments of Ride gloss over that in favor of pure fawning. We can celebrate our successes while sticking to the full truth. Especially enjoyed reading what Ride's ideas were for what we should be doing going into the future of space travel.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science for the win. I both know more about Ride and also not close to enough.

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't that long ago that women weren't allowed to work certain jobs. But Sally Ride set out to prove that just because that was the case, it didn't have to be that way. Through hard work and constantly having to prove her worth, she became the first American woman in space. And she made it her life mission to make sure young people- boys and girls- knew that science was for everyone.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who wouldn't want to read a chapter book biography of the first American woman in space? In this book, inspired by the She Persisted picture book series, readers learn about Sally Ride's childhood and her interest in sports, particularly tennis, and science. When she decided to pursue a professional career in tennis, she gave it all she had, but then realized that she didn't relish the discipline and training necessary to be one of the top players. Instead of simply going through the motions of playing, she turned her focus to another area that she loved and earned degrees in physics, an area of study not typically chosen by women. But Sally excelled and enjoyed teaching after earning her doctorate. When she saw a NASA recruitment ad seeking women applicants, Sally sent in her application to be a mission specialist. Her subsequent training as an astronaut prepared her for her space travel, and once she returned, she prepared the Ride Report and started Sally Ride Science and worked to remind others of Earth's fragility. Not only are there great quotes and moments from her life presented in the narrative, but the author acknowledges Sally's life partnership with Tam O'Shaughnessy, with whom she played tennis when she was growing up. Readers may draw inspiration from Sally's example of redirecting her focus and dreams when one dream didn't pan out. While it can be hard to do that or to give up on a cherished dream or ambition, Sally showed others that there is always something out there that is worth exploring and that even when others say something isn't possible, that may not be the case as other doors open.

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of great information about Sally Ride in a quick and easy format for younger readers. I do think that the very beginning and the end notes came off a bit preachy but the rest of the book was inspiring and educational. I could see this book inspiring young girls to get involved in science (or really to just try new things).
This would be a worthy purchase for my school library and I'm interested in reading some of the others from the series.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It starts Young

Sally had a headstart in education and dreams because her parents did not limit her and allowed her to dream! They encouraged her to do her best in whatever she wanted, and look how that turned out?
She was skilled in sports and science and even authored books! She encouraged others to pursue math and science and worked for NASA! What a woman 👏👏
She started young. We should all encourage our young people! And remind them that science is cool too haha

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to learn more about Sally Ride. I made a diorama for a report on someone we admire in second grade but didn't remember much about her life other than that she worked on a robot arm and was the first US woman in space.

I enjoyed learning about her dreams for peaceful space exploration and collaboration, especially since I haven't had that hope in a long time, with lack of funding and increasing international competition, and for-profit space business.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Ride could do it all! Brains and athleticism, breaking down gender norms and being an all around great human being! This is a wonderful early reader look at Ride's life and legacy, now to read the books she WROTE! As with the others in this series shout out to the How to Persist chapter giving kids ideas about how to grow their love for science and the world!

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The She Persisted mini chapter book biography series are perfect for elementary and intermediate age students interested in learning about the featured person for an assignment or just for an informative read about important women in history. This edition about Sally Ride, was well written and I’m sure will resonate for many young girls.

[Hillary Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading through some of these books trying to find an all school read. I enjoyed learning about Sally Ride and inspiring young women into the fields of Science and Astronomy. Lovely tribute to this woman. But, I'm going with the original title as our all school read as it a great jump off point for further inquiry.

[Elaine Fultz, Teacher Librarian, MLS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smart marketing and much-needed bios of women many of our students haven't heard of. OR new info that the pb bios don't include. There are mentions of SR's life partner, but nothing explicitly stated about her potential for being a role-model for LGBTQ+ kids.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series so much.
Great detail here...there's not NEARLY enough written about her for kids and this was well researched (including, as I saw in the acknowledgements, an interview with her partner, that level of detailed research shows in this.) I want to read every book in the series.

[simone ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was bored, read this in twenty minutes and I now know who Sally Ride was. I especially appreciated the detail of how "she was tested a treadmill and was able to jog super fast for seventeen straight minutes!" Just for next time, "jogging super fast" is also called running or sprinting. :P

[Heidi Eastman Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read another book about Sally Ride and I think I enjoyed that one more. This one's more geared towards kids which is great. I'm always going to give more stars too the books about space exploration and astronauts because it's my jam.

[Mallory Ong]

This is an inspiring biography about a groundbreaking female astronaut.
Lexile Level- 725L
Grades- 1-4

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an eAudio courtesy of Volumes in exchange for my honest review.

So engaging. I wish more of these stories had been taught in school.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to learn more about her and her life!

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and inspiring beginning chapter book for new readers. Read with my 8yo, we both enjoyed it and learned some new facts about Sally Ride.

[Danica is Booked · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My older son has been reading all the books in this "She Persisted" chapter book series, so I have been reading each book after he finishes them. Each book in the series is written by a different author, so the quality can vary, but this book on the first female astronaut Sally Ride was excellent. The author was a little too general at times, in my opinion. I would have liked to read in more detail about many aspects of Sally Ride's life, including her work with NASA. It was interesting to read about her early life and I never knew what an accomplished tennis player she was. I loved the little tidbits that were included, like how she had her own postage stamp and she wrote several children's books about space! Her life was full of accomplishments and awards over many years, although she sadly passed away at 61 years old from cancer.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“…but she would not give up on travelling to space… is she as good as the male astronauts? Sally answered…”yeah””

Ooo, these look like the positive distractions that I need for the end of another random personal and world year. A great first one to remind us all of escapism leading to pioneering developments, and most importantly following hearts - I’ll be looking for Orion and reflecting again soon enough