Book Descriptions
for The Stuff Between the Stars by Sandra Nickel and Aimée Sicuro
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
When Vera Rubin was growing up in the 1930s, she loved the night sky. But it wasn’t the stars themselves that fascinated her as much as the mystery that surrounded them. Her pursuit of astronomy as an academic subject in college was largely stymied by men who didn’t think women belonged in their field. Yet Vera persisted, and she continued to study and search for a pattern in the arrangement of galaxies. Her work eventually earned her great respect in astrophysics; continuing to question and push the boundaries of her world she discovered dark matter, which makes up 80 percent of the known universe. Fluid writing and engaging dark-hued watercolor illustrations mark this picture-book biography of a white woman who broke a lot of gender barriers in the field of astronomy by pursuing her dreams. The book’s back matter documents the impressive amount of primary research the author did to pull together a short biography of a little-known historical figure. (Ages 5-8)
CCBC Choices 2022. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
The Stuff Between the Starsis author Sandra Nickeland illustrator Aimée Sicuro’s inspired biographical picture book about a female astronomer who makes huge discoveries about the mysteries of the night sky and changed the way we look at the universe.
Vera Rubin was one of the astronomers who discovered and named dark matter, the thing that keeps the universe hanging together. Throughout her career she was never taken seriously as a scientist because she was one of the only female astronomers at that time, but she didn’t let that stop her. She made groundbreaking and incredibly significant discoveries that scientists have only recently been able to really appreciate—and she changed the way that we look at the universe.
A stunning portrait of a little-known trailblazer, The Stuff Between the Stars tells Vera’s story and inspires the youngest readers who are just starting to look up at the stars.
“A truly beautiful story of perseverance and passion.” —Booklist
“This engaging biography will appeal to budding scientists, particularly those with a penchant for sky searching.” —Kirkus Reviews
Vera Rubin was one of the astronomers who discovered and named dark matter, the thing that keeps the universe hanging together. Throughout her career she was never taken seriously as a scientist because she was one of the only female astronomers at that time, but she didn’t let that stop her. She made groundbreaking and incredibly significant discoveries that scientists have only recently been able to really appreciate—and she changed the way that we look at the universe.
A stunning portrait of a little-known trailblazer, The Stuff Between the Stars tells Vera’s story and inspires the youngest readers who are just starting to look up at the stars.
“A truly beautiful story of perseverance and passion.” —Booklist
“This engaging biography will appeal to budding scientists, particularly those with a penchant for sky searching.” —Kirkus Reviews
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
