The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone

Harper (1997) reminds us that the ability to control time is a powerful authoring tool that can help enhance a story and its emotional impact. Additional examples can be found on page 38 as the women ready themselve for testing, and on page 68 - 70 as Hart and Cochran testify. For example, on pages 14-15, Stone describes the moment when Flickinger and Lovelace offer Cobb the opportunity to participate in space-fitness testing. Narrative Episodes - Presentations of moments in the life of the subject, descriptions of the characters’ actions and interactions as they unfold.Additional examples for other members of the Mercury 13 can be found on pages 87 - 91. For example, on page 14, Stone describes Cobb’s accomplishments as a pilot. Biography Blurbs - Descriptions of a subject’s life story, their history.For example, on page 1, Stone describes Jerrie Cobb as she anticipates the launch of the space Shuttle Columbia ( Additional examples of character sketches can be found for Jane Hart on pages 60-61, and Lovelace on page 11 ). Character Sketches - Incorporating brief descriptions of a subject in action that explicitly convey character traits.To shape the historical narrative in Almost Astronauts, Stone employs the techniques of biographers in three ways: This blending of the genres of historical narrative and biography is an opportunity to explore both genres with your students. In constructing a narrative that began with the Mercury 13 and concludes with the launch of the first Space Shuttle to be commanded by a woman, Stone has chosen to feature the life stories of the thirteen women who ‘almost’ were astronauts. This is a work of history that is highly biographical. It is a story of boundary breaking: the story of how women became astronauts.

Almost Astronauts features life stories, but it is not a traditionally organized biography or a collection of biographies.

The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone