Blast Off
First published in 1973, just four years after the launch of Apollo 11, when American astronauts were exclusively white and male, Blast Off is the story of a young Black girl with a vision and a mission. Regina Williams wants to be an astronaut. One day she's drawing a picture of a rocket ship on the sidewalk when her friends come by and start to tease her. "You'll never be an astronaut," they say. In reply, she builds her own spaceship there and then, with old boxes, pipes, and cans. Before long she's in space, her eyes wide with wonder at the smallness of the blue-green Earth, the blackness of space, the stars and satellites. When she comes back down to earth, her friends don't believe her but she knows her dream is real. An inspiring story of interstellar space travel with illustrations by the legendary Leo and Diane Dillon.
