In Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aeorspace Engineer by Traci Sorell, Mary Golda Ross ignores expectations and plunges right into a mathematical world. Beginning when boys refused to sit next to her as the only girl in math class, she created a pattern of determination by getting better grades than they did. Natasha Donovan enhances the text with an appropriate mathematical arrangement of her illustrations and graphic designs.
Mary follows her excellence as a student in the classroom through her college career and on into teaching for several years. When she becomes a mathematician for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, they send her for more training, and she becomes the company’s first female engineer. A team player with her male colleagues and an encourager and mentor to other women who join the group, she worked on space projects that often still remain classified.
Mary held to four important beliefs instilled into her in her Cherokee heritage: (1) gaining skills in all areas of life, (2) working cooperatively with others, (3) remaining humble when others recognize your talents, and (4) helping ensure equal education and opportunity for all. Traci Sorell shows each of these as she navigates Mary’s life journey. There are hints of the difficulties Mary deals with as a woman and a Cherokee, but her accomplishments are the primary focus of the account.
Back matter includes a timeline; photographs; an author’s note; the four Cherokee values with a syllabary, transliteration, pronunciation, and English translation; source notes; and a bibliography. This is a great book for dispelling the notion that girls and math are incompatible and for those with interest in space exploration. Written for middle grade, it enlightens both boys and girls to the fact that your sexual identity has no connection to the ability to learn and practice math and science.