Starred Review From the author of Borrowed Names (2010), this three-part novel in verse vividly imagines the lives of three girls who grew up to become famous for their achievements in science. "Mud, Moths, and Mystery" opens in Germany in 1660 with Maria Merian as a girl, closely observing insect metamorphosis. Pursuing her interest in nature throughout her life, she even traveled to South America to observe wildlife. "Secrets in Stones" tells of young Mary Anning, who in the early 1800s began collecting fossils from cliffs near her home in Lyme Regis, England. Despite poverty and limited education, her significant discoveries and observations contributed to paleontology at a pivotal time. "Mapmaker's Daughter" begins in 1831 with Maria Mitchell stargazing through her father's telescope on Nantucket. Later, she discovered a comet and became a college astronomy professor. Atkins has a knack for turning a phrase, such as "Certainty is like a pillow / she learned to live without," or "Coughs scrape the air, as if Pa breathes through a grater." Science is woven through the narratives, but within the fabric of the characters' daily lives and family struggles. While the Mary Anning narrative is the most haunting, each of these three perceptive portrayals is original and memorable.

The stories, in poetry, of three self-taught female scientists. In seventeenth-century Germany, Maria Sibylla Merian studies silkworm metamorphosis; in eighteenth-century England, Mary Anning develops paleontological skills selling fossils to keep her siblings fed; Maria Mitchell joins her father at his telescope on nineteenth-century Nantucket. Atkins guides readers through themes that connect the women's scientific quests and zeroes in on small but telling moments. Bib.

The verse biographies of three pioneering women who made their marks on science.Atkins here introduces young readers to three women who bucked convention and distinguished themselves in scientific disciplines at times in history when females were expected to engage in domestic pursuits. German-born Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), who defied the then-accepted notion of spontaneous generation and discovered how caterpillars become butterflies, is still considered one of the foremost entomologists of her day; Brit Mary Anning (1799-1847) discovered the first ichthyosaur and was the first person known to make a living selling fossils; and Maria Mitchell (1818-89) discovered a comet in 1847 and went on to become the first woman in the United States to work as an astronomer. Though they were born in different centuries and lands, Atkins adroitly employs spare yet lyric poems to imagine the similar development of these path-breaking white women, whom she imagines taking the leads of their fathers in cultivating their curiosity and having the courage to believe that: "Discoveries are made / by those willing to say, Once we were wrong, / and ask question after question." Atkins takes the license verse grants to "fill in what disappeared" from what remains of her subjects' childhoods, creating captivating fictionalized portraits. Inspirational and informative, Atkins shows how pursuing one's passion for science, math, or any field considered nontraditional is worth the risk. (author's note, bibliographic essay, bibliography) (Verse historical fiction. 10-14)

Writing in free verse, Atkins (Borrowed Names) reaches back into the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries to the girlhoods of Maria Merian, naturalist and scientific illustrator; Mary Anning, fossil hunter; and astronomer Maria Mitchell, all curious girls whose childhood passions led to groundbreaking work. Each grew up in a deeply bonded family and had a strongly supportive father; each fought quietly and determinedly against the obstacles of being a girl with unusual interests. In a closing note, Atkins explains that while she carefully documented the women-s adult achievements, writing in verse gave her the liberty to fictionalize details of their younger years. The result is a sensory depiction of daily life in earlier centuries--the cottage smells of laundry soap and herbal tonics--and a credible development of three sympathetic characters. Evocative similes abound (-a silkworm silently spins/ a silk cocoon around itself,/ like a dancer twirling/ or a baker frosting a tall cake-), building an increasing ambiance of -finding wonder- in the world. In addition to the author-s note, a selected bibliography and Atkins-s thoughts on other science biographies are provided. Ages 10-up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger. (Sept.)