The full title of this graphic novel is Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier. The writer and illustrator also created the book Primates, which is very similar in style and probably isn't terribly surprising. Both Primates and Astronauts are good but pretty specific in their subject matter, which isn't a bad thing, but it means that their audience might not be as broad as, say, the audience for Raina Telgemeier books (Smile, Sisters, Guts, etc.).
Astronauts tells the story of women and their difficult and long path to be included in space exploration in the United States. In the early days of NASA, to be considered for a job as an astronaut, you had to have been a fighter pilot. But back then women were not allowed to be fighter pilots, which kept them from being considered as astronauts. Of course that old way of thinking was driven by men, mostly, and thankfully that has changed some in the last several decades, but only because some very smart and very determined women fought hard for that change. The result was (is) that women have now flown space missions into outer space and been very successful contributors to space exploration and space science.
As a graphic novel, Astronauts is well illustrated, but I found the story a little choppy. The authors include so much detailed history, including the history of Russia's push to have women in the space program, that the story gets a little bogged down and tedious. Overall it's an important story, and a good story to be told in the graphic novel format. But I don't know if this book, start to finish, is going to appeal to very many readers outside of those who are really interested in the history of women in the space program. It's a good story, and inspiring, but needs a little more personality to it.
If women's history interests you, and/or space exploration and space science, you'll probably want to own this book! If not, you might enjoy it, but I'm not sure if it will be one you go back to read again and again. 3 paws and a wag.
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