Winner of the American Indian Youth Literature Honor Book award

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! An American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Picture Book Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work. Cherokee author Traci Sorell and Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan trace Ross's journey from being the only girl in a high school math class to becoming a teacher to pursuing an engineering degree, joining the top-secret Skunk Works division of Lockheed, and being a mentor for Native Americans and young women interested in engineering. In addition, the narrative highlights Cherokee values including education, working cooperatively, remaining humble, and helping ensure equal opportunity and education for all. "A stellar addition to the genre that will launch careers and inspire for generations, it deserves space alongside stories of other world leaders and innovators."-starred, Kirkus Reviews "Highlights the life and secret work of Cherokee aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross. As a teen in the 1920s, Mary Golda Ross loves 'puzzling out math equations' despite expectations of the times. At 16, she finds being the only girl in a college math class means working extra hard to prove herself to the boys who 'refused to sit next to' her. Guided by her Cherokee belief that 'gaining life skills in all areas' is important, Ross not only strives for better grades, she aims for loftier goals. Each step of the way-whether teaching high school, working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or helping solve aircraft design flaws during World War II- Ross is fueled by other Cherokee principles as well. Ultimately, her passion for math and her commitment to those deeply rooted values result in her selection to a 'supersecret work team' that promises to take her career, and the world, farther than ever before. Meticulously researched and subtly framed according to the Cherokee beliefs that piloted Ross, page-turning prose elevates this Indigenous hidden figure to her rightful place in history. In addition, bold, classic-comics-like illustrations and colors reminiscent of 1950s advertisements give an appropriately retro vibe. A stellar addition to the genre that will launch careers and inspire for generations, it deserves space alongside stories of other world leaders and innovators. Liftoff. A biography that lands beyond the stars!"-starred, Kirkus Reviews "Sorell (We Are Still Here!, rev. 5/21) opens the book with a note on four 'Cherokee values' that she uses to frame Ross's (1908-2008) long life: 'Gaining skills in all areas of life (both within and outside the classroom), working cooperatively with others, remaining humble when others recognize your talents, and helping ensure equal education and opportunity for all.' Through realistically cartooned digital illustrations and straightforward text, readers learn how Ross's experiences reflected these traits.Because she valued learning and had a passion for math, Ross was able to persevere when 'the boys refused to sit next to the only girl in math class.' This passion led her to a job as a mathematician for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, where she worked with others to design fighter planes as well as spacecraft. Her most important contribution was encouraging other women and American Indians to become engineers. An appended timeline, an author's note, source notes, and a bibliography provide more details about Ross's life and times. Also appended with Sorell's Four Cherokee Values written using Cherokee syllabary and its transliteration; phonetic pronunciation in English; and English-language translation-features that help to preserve the language for future generations."-The Horn Book Magazine "Mary Golda Ross

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