Ellen Ochoa

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-These biographies provide glimpses into the lives of three scientists. Ocampo is a planetary geologist, Ochoa was the first Hispanic-American woman to become an astronaut, and clvarez was a physicist and Nobel Prize winner. Each volume contains full-color and black-and-white photos. The titles are serviceable, but the prose is occasionally dry and uninspired. Guidici becomes bogged down in the background details leading up to Ocampo's work, which is then described too generally. Iverson offers the most balanced treatment of the three, with straightforward writing and a detailed account of both the professional and private lives of Ochoa. Randall's text distracts from clvarez's important life because of inappropriate exclamation marks. Serviceable titles for reports, but little else.-Melissa Christy Buron, Epps Island Elementary, Houston, TX Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.