About the Author

Connie Colwell Miller is a writer, editor, and teacher who lives and works in Mankato, Minnesota. She studied writing at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and went on to earn her Masters in Fine Arts in creative writing at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she won an award for her poetry manuscript. She has written over 25 books for kids and published parenting essays and poetry online and in journals around the country. She spends her free time goofing around with her husband and three young, highly spirited children.

Reviews

Marie Curie was not a typical woman of her time. Unlike many women in the 1890's Marie worked and she was highly educated. Indeed Marie decided to do something that no other woman in Europe had ever done; she would get her doctorate degree in science. It was not going to be easy for Marie had a husband and a small baby daughter to take care of but she was a determined woman and she was willing to work hard to find a way to make her dream come true. Marie decided that she would try to find out about the element uranium. That would be the subject of her thesis. She soon discovered that uranium and some other substances similar to it gave off x-rays. In the course of her studies Marie discovered two new elements, polonium and radium. She decided to call the energy that the radium gave off radioactivity. With Pierre's help Marie set to work trying to isolate the radium from the rock in which it was found. She wanted to prove that it really was an element and in the end, after many years of work, she was able to do this. Unfortunately Marie and Pierre did not know that the radioactivity was damaging their health, no one fully appreciated what radioactivity did to the body at that time. Marie and Pierre then began to work hard to find uses for their new element. Even after Pierre was killed in an accident Marie pressed on and during WWI x-ray machines which she helped develop saved many lives. Marie was the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in different subjects and our world would be a very different place if she had not made her important discoveries. This is a wonderfully written account of an exceptional woman who gave her life for science. Young girls will find her story inspirational and will come to appreciate how brave and dedicated Marie was. A well written text coupled with the easy-to-follow comic book style art makes this an excellent introduction to the life of one of the world's most famous scientists.-- "Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review"

This graphic novel highlights the achievements and contributions Marie Curie's lifelong research had in the fields of physics, chemistry, and medicine. Through colorful illustrations and simple dialogue the reader is drawn into the Marie Curie's life, beginning with 1897. The work also does not gloss over the aftereffects of working with radiation and how this contributed if not directly caused the death of Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre. The interspersing of extra pieces of information gives intriguing insight to the flow of the dialogue. The text also effectively manages to make Madame Curie's work accessible to young children, and would be a valuable asset to have in the classroom. It also contains a useful glossary, bibliography, and a list of related, safe, age-appropriate Internet sites.-- "Children's Literature Comprehensive Database"