Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician

A picture book biography of Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who worked at NASA and was one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA mathematician. The book tells the story of Katherine's childhood, her love of math, and her determination to succeed. It also highlights her contributions to the space program and her work on the team that calculated the trajectory for the first American in space, Alan Shepard. The book includes an author's note and additional information about Katherine Johnson's life and career. The illustrated biography by award-winning author Lesa Cline-Ransome and acclaimed illustrator Raúl Colón, showcases Katherine's work as a 'human computer' at NASA during the early 1950s under Virginia’s Jim Crow laws. In 1962, she played a pivotal role in John Glenn's orbital mission by manually calculating the complexities of the flight, earning the trust of the astronaut who insisted on her calculations. Katherine Johnson's remarkable achievements were recognized when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, and her story inspired the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures.