Jeannine Atkins – författare

From critically acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins comes a “memorable, poetic tale” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about a half–Native American, half–African American sculptor working in the years following the Civil War.A sculptor of historical figures starts with givens but creates her own vision. Edmonia Lewis was just such a sculptor, but she never spoke or wrote much about her past, and the stories that have come down through time are often vague or contradictory. Some facts are known: Edmonia was the daughter of an Ojibwe woman and an African Haitian man. She had the rare opportunity to study art at Oberlin, one of the first schools to admit women and people of color, but lost her place after being accused of poisoning and theft, despite being acquitted of both. She moved to Boston and eventually Italy, where she became a successful sculptor. But the historical record is very thin. The open questions about Edmonia’s life seem ideally suited to verse, a form that is compatible with mysteries. Inspired by both the facts and the gaps in history, author Jeannine Atkins imagines her way into a vision of what might have been.

This “evocative and beautiful” (School Library Journal) novel “vividly imagines the lives of three girls” (Booklist, starred review) in three different time periods as they grow up to become groundbreaking scientists.Maria Merian was sure that caterpillars were not wicked things born from mud, as most people of her time believed. Through careful observation she discovered the truth about metamorphosis and documented her findings in gorgeous paintings of the life cycles of insects. More than a century later, Mary Anning helped her father collect stone sea creatures from the cliffs in southwest England. To him they were merely a source of income, but to Mary they held a stronger fascination. Intrepid and patient, she eventually discovered fossils that would change people’s vision of the past. Across the ocean, Maria Mitchell helped her mapmaker father in the whaling village of Nantucket. At night they explored the starry sky through his telescope. Maria longed to discover a new comet—and after years of studying the night sky, she finally did. Told in vibrant, evocative poems, this stunning novel celebrates the joy of discovery and finding wonder in the world around us.

“Informative, pithy, wry, very readable.” —Booklist Learn about seven groundbreaking women in math and science in this gorgeously written biographical novel-in-verse, a companion to Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science.After a childhood spent looking up at the stars, Caroline Herschel was the first woman to discover a comet and to earn a salary for scientific research. Florence Nightingale was a trailblazing nurse whose work reformed hospitals and one of the founders of the field of medical statistics. The first female electrical engineer, Hertha Marks Ayrton registered twenty-six patents for her inventions. Marie Tharp helped create the first map of the entire ocean floor, which helped scientists understand our subaquatic world and suggested how the continents shifted. A mathematical prodigy, Katherine Johnson calculated trajectories and launch windows for many NASA projects including the Apollo 11 mission. Edna Lee Paisano, a citizen of the Nez Perce Nation, was the first Native American to work full time for the Census Bureau, overseeing a large increase in American Indian and Alaskan Native representation. And Vera Rubin studied more than two hundred galaxies and found the first strong evidence for dark matter. Told in vibrant, evocative poems, this stunning novel celebrates seven remarkable women who used math as their key to explore the mysteries of the universe and grew up to do innovative work that changed the world.

From the acclaimed author of Finding Wonders and Grasping Mysteries comes a gorgeously written biography in “deliberate, delicate verse” (Kirkus Reviews) about the pioneering Jewish woman physicist whose scientific prowess changed the course of World War II. At the turn of the 20th century, Lise Meitner dreamed of becoming a scientist. In her time, girls were not supposed to want careers, much less ones in science. But Lise was smart—and determined. She earned a PhD in physics, then became the first woman physics professor at the University of Berlin. The work was thrilling, but Nazi Germany was a dangerous place for a Jewish woman. When the risks grew too great, Lise escaped to Sweden, where she continued the experiments that she and her laboratory partner had worked on for years. Her efforts led to the discovery of nuclear fission and altered the course of history.Only Lise’s partner, a man, received the Nobel Prize for their findings, but this moving and accessible biography shows how Lise’s legacy endures.

From the acclaimed author of Finding Wonders and Grasping Mysteries comes a gorgeously written biography in “deliberate, delicate verse” (Kirkus Reviews) about the pioneering Jewish woman physicist whose scientific prowess changed the course of World War II. At the turn of the 20th century, Lise Meitner dreamed of becoming a scientist. In her time, girls were not supposed to want careers, much less ones in science. But Lise was smart—and determined. She earned a PhD in physics, then became the first woman physics professor at the University of Berlin. The work was thrilling, but Nazi Germany was a dangerous place for a Jewish woman. When the risks grew too great, Lise escaped to Sweden, where she continued the experiments that she and her laboratory partner had worked on for years. Her efforts led to the discovery of nuclear fission and altered the course of history. Only Lise’s partner, a man, received the Nobel Prize for their findings, but this moving and accessible biography shows how Lise’s legacy endures.

“A love letter to the power of individuals to bring about change and uplift others.” —Kirkus Reviews Meet three remarkable women who followed their dreams and paved a path for women in science in this gorgeously written biographical novel in verse from acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins.As a girl in the late 1800s, Mary Agnes Chase searched the river’s edge for wild grasses, wondering how best to capture their likeness with pencil and paper. While her formal education ended in eighth grade, her skill at drawing plants helped land her a position at the Smithsonian Institution. Agnes became a world-renowned expert in grasses she discovered in meadows and mountains. Far away on the bank of another river, Marguerite Thomas Williams waded in to explore the rocks, wondering what secrets they might tell of long ago. Marguerite became a schoolteacher, then a teacher of teachers, but she wanted more. At last, a nearby university opened its doors to Black women, and after years of study, Marguerite became the first Black woman to earn a PhD in geology. Marguerite’s student Sophie Mack Lutterlough’s lifelong interest in insects led to her working her way from being an elevator operator at the Smithsonian Institution to becoming one of the first Black women researchers there in the late 1950s. With keen eyes and ambition, each woman followed her love of the natural world to blaze a trail for future female scientists.

Acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins revisits her past in this “brave, searing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) memoir-in-verse about memory, healing, and finding her voice as a writer, perfect for fans of Amber Smith and Speak.Night darkens the window to mirror. I’m back in my old bedroom. Six weeks after the start of her freshman year of college, Jeannine Atkins finds herself back in her childhood bedroom after an unimaginable trauma. Now home in Massachusetts, she’s struggling to reclaim her life and her voice. Seeking comfort in the words of women, she turns to the lives and stories of Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, and Emily Dickinson. Through raw and poignant letter-poems addressed to these literary giants, Jeannine finds that the process of writing and reflecting has become not only a means of survival but the catalyst for a burgeoning writing career. Inspired and ready to move forward, she enrolls in her state university, where she feeds her growing passion for writing in fiction seminars. But she finds that she’s unable to escape the pervasive misogyny of her classmates and professors, who challenge her to assert her own voice against a backdrop of disbelief and minimalization. This time, though, Jeannine is not willing to go down without a fight. A searingly honest memoir told through gorgeous verse, Knocking on Windows stands as a beacon of hope and a celebration of the enduring spirit of survivors of sexual assault—and of writers.