Beyond the Mapped Stars
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A sweeping adventure, set in the late 19th century, about science, love, and finding your place in the world, perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Julie Berry.
Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Bertelsen dreams of becoming an astronomer, but she knows such dreams are as unreachable as the stars she so deeply adores. As a Mormon girl, her duty is to her family and, in a not too far away future, to the man who'll choose to marry her.
When she unexpectedly finds herself in Colorado, she's tempted by the total eclipse of the sun that's about to happen--and maybe even meeting up with the female scientists she's long admired. Elizabeth must learn to navigate this new world of possibility: with her familial duties and faith tugging at her heartstrings, a new romance on the horizon, and the study of the night sky calling to her, she can't possibly have it all...can she?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Bertelsen, who is white and Mormon in 1878 Utah, is expected to marry and start a family like her polygamous father's brood. But though she loves her church, she's more interested in getting an education and studying the stars. It's not impossible—Elizabeth's scientific hero is astronomer Maria Mitchell—but it does seem unlikely. When her inattention endangers a sibling, Elizabeth is sent to Wyoming to care for her pregnant half sister. From there, she's only a train ride to Denver and Pikes Peak, where the country's greatest astronomers, including Mitchell, will view an upcoming eclipse. Elizabeth draws on her gumption, heads to Denver, and, helped by new friends and old, tries to become part of the expedition that will track the eclipse. She must also determine whether faith and science are compatible, and as she and other characters face religious prejudice, sexism, racism, and their own self-doubt, Eves's (the Blood Rose Rebellion series) well-crafted tale of perseverance will have many contemporary readers identifying with them. An author's note details the facts behind this telling of late-19th-century life in the American West. Ages 12–up.
