Book excerpt: In this title, examine the life of imaginative space traveler and medical innovator Mae Jemison. Readers will enjoy digging into Jemison's personal story, beginning with her childhood in Chicago where she watched Star Trek and conducted dozens of her own science experiments. Students can trace Jemison's success, from her education at Stanford University and Cornell University to her years volunteering with the Peace Corps, before her acceptance into the NASA space program and flight into space on the Endeavour. Engaging text and photos offer insight on topics such as astronomy, gravity, and biomedical engineering. While a timeline, glossary, and index supplement the text, an entertaining science activity allows readers their own hands-on experience based on the science that inspired this woman's groundbreaking career. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.