Black Hole Chasers: The Amazing True Story of an Astronomical Breakthrough

Gr 5-8–An intriguing and comprehensive look at the subject. The focus of this readable and captivating narrative is in detailing the history of black holes, following the lives of the lead scientists and how they became interested in black holes, and sharing the challenges, failures, and eventual success of the Event Horizon Telescope project. The short chapters have many asides highlighting scientists throughout history who contributed to our understanding of black holes. Lingo alerts appear throughout when a new term is introduced. The volume includes an extensive bibliography with books, articles, and websites where readers can go do further research. Redding’s narrative on the lives of the scientists and their seemingly insurmountable challenge of capturing the first image of a black hole will immediately grab readers and pull them in. Her book explains complex ideas in easy-to-understand terms and sprinkles photos and interesting anecdotes throughout to flesh out the story. Kids will be enthralled by exceptional storytelling and inspired to learn more about the phenomenon, and astronomy overall.