Lexi and Marie Curie:
Saving Lives in World War I (Lexi Catt’s Meowmoirs-Tales of Heroic Scientists)
by Marian Keen
About the Book
This is a fascinating and unusual book for readers in intermediate grades. Lexi and Marie Curie introduces readers to the amazing story of scientist Marie Curie, whose isolation of radium, among other discoveries, led to her being awarded the Nobel Prize in both Physics and Chemistry. Shut out of much of the formal scientific academy, Marie forges her own path, one that paves the way for her daughters and for generations of girls and women whose curiosity is sparked by science, technology, engineering and math. Author Marian Keen’s eye for detail draws the reader into Marie Curie’s life, her triumphs and disappointments. Published to coincide with the centenary of the start of the Great War, the book brings readers back to the tremendous upheaval of this terrible conflict. Readers are treated to details about the roles of animals at the front, the challenges of cooking when food is scarce, and the important contribution of women nurses in the war.
The story focuses on Marie Curieâs lesser known work in setting up mobile x-ray units in field hospitals that could accurately locate shrapnel, allowing field surgeons to save lives and preserve limbs. The writing is accessible and the descriptions of war are honest but age-appropriate. This book will serve as a useful reminder to both girls and boys that women have been making history in all fields of endeavor for a very long time, and that our pioneers ought not to be forgotten. ‘Lexi and Marie Curie’ will encourage girls, in particular, not to take for an answer and to rely on their wits and ingenuity to find a solution to even the most difficult problems that life throws their way.
Publication Date: Aug 25, 2014
158 pp. 6 x 9
Praise for ‘Lexi and Marie Curie’
“This book will serve as a useful reminder to both girls and boys that women have been making history in all fields of endeavour for a very long time, and that our pioneers ought not to be forgotten. Lexi and Marie Curie will encourage girls, in particular, not to take no for an answer, and to rely on their wits and ingenuity to find solutions to even the most difficult problems that life throws their way.”
Janine Benedet, Associate Professor of Law, Director, Centre for Feminist Legal Studies, UBC
About the Author
Marian Keen, B.S. in Education, Central Connecticut State University, has been writing in a variety of genres since the early 1980s. Marian studied middle-grade education and taught grades five and six. Marian’s works and commentary can be found at megsbooks.com and stresstonics.com.
