Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom

Robeson, T., & Huang, R. (2019). Queen of physics: How Wu Chien Shiung helped unlock the secrets of the Atom. Sterling Children's Books.

    This biographical account of Wu Chien Shuing’s life is told by Teresa Robeson, who is an award winning children’s nonfiction book author. There is little in the book to indicate any qualifications on Robeson’s part for writing this book. The dedication mentions the guidance the author had, and there is a bibliography at the end, but nothing to indicate what qualifies her to understand these sources. There are no acknowledgements in the book at all. Though the book’s whole title is “Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom”, the book is mostly a biography of Wu Chien Shiung’s life, rather than exploring her scientific achievements. The focus is narrow in terms of its subject matter: Wu Chien Shiung’s life, but doesn’t focus on what the title makes it seem that it will focus on: the specific part of Wu Chien Shiung’s life. That being said, I do think a biographical account of a scientist's life may be more accessible for the intended age range. The book follows her from her birth to later in her life, when her father passed away. The organization of this book is chronological, which makes sense, as it is a biography. The language in this book is appropriate for the most part. Whenever it goes beyond the level that a child would be expected to understand, the author explains what it means. However, some of the words in the book, such as neutron, electron, and proton, are not explained until the glossary. This may create a stilted reading experience, as children who are aware of the glossary may skip forward to check the definition before returning to the page they were on. Reference aids include the glossary, suggestions for further reading, and a bibliography. There are no page numbers, index, table of contents, or other form of reference aid. That being said, the ones that are there are very helpful. There are also no captions. For the format, the text is very legible, and is overlaid on top of the pictures in a strategic manner that balances both text and illustration. The illustrations are well suited to the book, and while they do enhance the book, they don’t teach the reader much at all. Overall, this book teaches the reader much about Wu Chien Shiung, but very little about how she “helped unlock the secrets of the atoms”.