Mae Jemison: Ready-to-Read Level 3 (You Should Meet)

Blast off into space and get to know Mae Jemison—the first African-American woman to ever go to space—with this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series of biographies about people “you should meet.”

Meet Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut! Did you know before Mae was an astronaut, she went to medical school and joined the Peace Corps? But she never forgot her childhood dream to travel to outer space. So in 1985 she applied to NASA’s astronaut training program. On September 12, 1992, Mae flew into space with six other astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour and made history—just like you can if you follow your dreams!

A special section at the back of the book includes extras on subjects like history and math, plus a fun timeline filled with interesting trivia facts about space! With the You Should Meet series, learning about historical figures has never been so much fun!

Laurie Calkhoven is the author of many books, including George Washington: An American Life and Harriet Tubman: Leading the Way to Freedom. She lives in New York City. Visit her at LaurieCalkhoven.com.

Monique Dong studied to become an animator, but soon realized she had a love for illustrating children’s books and has been following that dream ever since. Born in South Africa, she now lives in China with her husband and baby boy.