Review by Booklist Review
Even readers who don't know Hedy Lamarr, the world's most beautiful woman, will become fans after learning how she balanced her fame as a 1930s movie star with a passion for science and inventing. Growing up in Austria, Lamarr acted in plays and explored mechanics before making it big in Hollywood. Both her artistic and scientific processes, success, and challenges are shown as the book focuses on her creation of a secure torpedo guidance system using frequency-hopping, a technology that, though ignored during its initial inception, is found in many personal electronics today. Strong digital art, spread across colorful pages with varied layouts, is both dignified and fun, with diagrams of scientific principles placed near portraits of Lamarr's famous costars (Clark Gable, Judy Garland). Consistent in style and substance with the duo's previous Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code (2017), this includes helpful back matter and featured quotes that offer insight into Lamarr's perspective: in her unique life, she never failed to do good . . . think big . . . and build. --Andrew Medlar Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Wallmark and Wu (Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code) add another title to the People Who Shaped Our World series, shining a spotlight on the lesser-known side of movie star Hedy Lamarr: the inventor. Lamarr, with friend George Antheil, came up with an idea for a secure torpedo guidance system during WWII, developing a technology that's used today to secure digital communications. Her "frequency-hopping spread spectrum" allowed torpedo communications devices to rapidly change frequencies, reducing the chances its radio signal would be intercepted, changed, or blocked. Spreads include a quotation from the multifaceted Lamarr ("Improving things comes naturally to me"), and pages recap her inquisitive childhood in Vienna, other inventions, and acting history before explaining the concept of frequency hopping in digitally rendered cartoons. Part picture book biography and part tech primer, the volume concludes with a selected bibliography, a timeline, and a list of the star's movies. Ages 5-up. Author's agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency. Illustrator's agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-This picture book biography introduces young readers to the Hollywood legend famous for her beauty and the many hit movies in which she starred throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and her passion for science and technology. Lamarr's zeal is conveyed superbly. Growing up in Austria in the 1920s, she wanted to understand how things worked. She took apart her toys to study their mechanisms and, during long walks with her father, explored subjects ranging from streetcars to the night sky. She also reenacted her favorite scenes from movies on a stage she built beneath her father's desk. Wallmark brings Lamarr to life by including quotes from her subject. During World War II, Lamarr worked with another inventor on technology called frequency hopping, which is still in use today and allows users to send and receive secure cell phone messages and protect computers from hackers. The back matter includes a spread detailing frequency-hopping in more depth. Vibrant digital artwork expands upon the text by showcasing a handful of Lamarr's other inventions and using period details to convey the golden era of Hollywood. VERDICT A must for both school and public libraries, especially where collections are looking to increase their STEM holdings and round out biography collections with women working in science.--Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hollywood film star Hedy Lamarr (19142000) was known as the worlds most beautiful woman. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, she was discovered by legendary director Louis B. Mayer and came to America in 1937. During WWII her films provided escapist distraction for war-weary audiences; she also traveled the country, selling millions in war bonds. But Lamarr was also an inventor whose brain overflowed with idea after idea. After learning about the limitations of the U.S. Navys torpedo guidance system, Lamarr (in partnership with composer George Antheil) devised a new and improved system, the workings of which are explained in simple terms in Wallmarks peppy text. Lamarr continued acting and inventing, with the latter effort taking decades to be acknowledged: she was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014, and her technology is in widespread use in todays electronics. Using well-chosen quotes throughout, Wallmark lets her subject do the talking regarding Lamarrs talent and peoples assumptions: People seem to think because I have a pretty face Im stupidI have to work twice as hard as anyone else to convince people I have something resembling a brain. Wus approachable digital illustrations do a good job portraying Lamarr in both glitz-and-glam-Hollywood mode and while puzzling through a problem at her inventing table. A timeline, filmography, selected bibliography, and Additional Reading About Other Women in STEM are appended. elissa Gershowitz January/February 2019 p 123(c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Brilliance unrecognized.Bombshell actress Hedy Lamarr was worshipped for her beauty and elegance, but what the public didn't know was that she was an inventor. Interspersing descriptions of her various inventions and Lamarr's own words, the straightforward text and appealing, appropriately retro-feeling illustrations present a wide-eyed Lamarr as a multifaceted talent and portray both her life as a Hollywood star and her inquisitiveness and intellectual creativity, from her childhood in Austria through her acting heyday to her recognition as an inventor in her 80s. In this clear, appealing tale of an unsung heroine, Wallmark does not explicitly discuss the second-class status of female scientists but instead focuses on her subject's personality and achievements. The process of invention and inspiration are explained in a succinct and inspiring way, as is Lamarr's working partnership with composer and inventor George Antheil; their invention is relevant and used frequently in technology today. Fifty years later, Lamar is recognized, and her response forms the book's conclusion: "It's about time." Wu's illustrations focus on the book's white principals but include secondary characters of color, neatly shifting mode to help illustrate the technological principles under discussion. The extensive backmatter includes a timeline, bibliography, further readingand, emblematic of the subject, a description of Lamarr's invention and a list of her films.Revelatory to young audiences in more ways than one. (Picture book/biography. 5-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
