The book starts earlier than the film, during World War II, when one of the women first got hired as a "computer" (someone doing mathematical calculations) helping to develop faster planes for the war effort. It brings to light the story of four African American women mathematicians who worked on the teams developing aircraft and spacecraft for the United States. Parents need to know that Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition, by Margot Lee Shetterly, is a kids' version of the best-selling book for adults that inspired the Oscar-nominated film of the same name. They stuck up for their rights - one won the right to join the men at meetings - while proving their worth with their computational smarts and skills, hard work, and consistently exemplary work. Their keen math minds secured them work doing complex computations at a time when they couldn't even use the same bathroom as their white coworkers and had to sit separately in the lunch room. These women got math degrees at a time when few women did, and they weren't allowed to enroll in white institutions. Important STEM role models for African-American girls.
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