Unlocking the Universe

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, Slade’s new addition takes middle grade readers on the amazing journey from idea to creation of the Webb Space Telescope. Engineer and veteran children’s author, Slade demonstrates her expertise in this heavily researched, forty-paged nonfiction book. Employing a conversational style, Slade first introduces readers to the desire of scientists to create a telescope that can provide the most detailed images of space, utilizing infrared light. Readers will be astonished to learn that the planning process of such a telescope took many years before it was even tested to see if it could withstand the rigors of space. On every page, detailed figures of the design process and images from the telescope (primarily provided by NASA) are included. Everyone will be awed by the pictures that NASA was able to produce from the infrared readings sent by Webb. After thirty years of research, planning, and construction, people are now able to view distant galaxies, star formations, details of planets, and much more. Those interested in learning more about Webb can access additional information from the resource list Slade provides. —Children's Literature A verbal and visual shoutout to space telescopes, which have added new depth and clarity to our views of the universe. Slade focuses on the Webb Space Telescope, the largest so far to be sent into orbit, but the galleries of spectacular space photos that accompany her descriptions of how it was conceived, designed, tested, redesigned, assembled, and lifted into space include many taken by or in conjunction with several of its cousins, from the venerable Hubble to the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The author notes that Webb’s construction was the work of many hands—20,000 people were involved over the course of three decades—and includes photos of racially diverse crews, often working in “clean” rooms and shrouded in full body “bunny suits.” She then explains how technical problems were discovered and ingeniously solved, describes the observatory’s instrumentation, and takes readers through its 2021 launch from the Guiana Space Center in South America. Readers who might be interested in the brief controversy surrounding naming the telescope after an administrator who oversaw NASA during the homophobic “lavender scare” will have to look elsewhere for details (or even mention), but those with stars in their eyes will find the book to be a stimulating reminder of what wonders astronomy can show us, given the right gear in the right location. A celebration of the latest high-tech eyes on the skies. —Kirkus Reviews