Who Was Marie Curie? by Megan Stine—Review by Andrea Vollmer

Who Was Marie Curie? is one of the more recent titles in this popular series for younger and middle grade readers. Written by Megan Stine and illustrated by Ted Hammond, this short chapter book covers the life and work of the famous scientist Marie Curie.

I chose this book because I am quite familiar with this biography series and its accompanying series, What Was…, which gives brief background and explanations on historical landmarks and events from the past. Students have often loved to read these non-fiction books and typically have a better understanding of the topics after having read books in either of these series. I decided on this particular book because I vividly remember a set of biographies my own teacher had in her classroom that I read with great interest. My favorite in the series was of the fascinating Madame Curie.

Although I expected an interesting read that matched my childhood enthusiasm, I was generally disappointed. The story covers all major events in Marie Curie’s life, and even delivered information that was new to me. The author rightfully emphasizes the point that Marie Curie was a pioneer in science and had to endure hardships not put upon other scientists of the time, her husband included. The story’s descriptions of the political climate in Warsaw at the time, however, are abbreviated and somewhat confusing. There are also references to the intellectual differences of Marie’s daughters that felt uncomfortable to read, reinforcing stereotypes of being “especially smart” versus “good at music.” Finally, there are several pages on Marie’s love for her married friend and colleague which had dramatic details that younger readers would not be able to put into context on their own (violence, death threats, the wife sending love letters to the press and the subsequent scandal).

Overall, this story included some interesting details, but was not particularly well-written and failed to give readers a solid foundation to further understand Marie, her work, and the times in which she lived. I’ll be looking for another resource to satisfy my childhood interest in Marie Curie.