Stephen Hawking (A Life Story) by Nikki Sheehan

Stephen Hawking (A Life Story) Reviews

• 
  Annette

  This is the first biography I’ve read in A Life Story series for middle grade.
  
  On January 8, 1942 one of the greatest scientists was born – Stephen Hawking. Both of his parents were highly educated. Stephen’s grades were average, but his classmates noticed how clever he was and called him “Einstein.” As he was working on his PhD, he was diagnosed with ALS disease. At twenty-one, he was told that he had two years left. He defied the odds, dying at seventy-six.
  
  The first half of his story seems choppy. The chapters are short, with very brief information jumping a few years. He is born, and then suddenly he buys electric train with his own money. His sister is given a doll’s house, and that’s how we learn he has a sister.
  
  In some chapters, there are a lot of inserts, which overwhelm the main story. The storytelling sounds like listing facts. It improves in the second half.
  
  Hawking’s disability gave him a different platform. It didn’t take him down. It showed him that every moment counts. He passionately advocated for many things: encouraged disable people to reach for the stars and them being able to have access to different places on wheelchair, caring for the planet. He was also against the Brexit as that wasn’t the way to deal with interlaced economies. His character development comes through in the second part, which I was missing in the first part.
  
  There are limited black and white illustrations, which is fine for this age group.
  
• 
  Edgar Varese

  It was very interesting, and I liked it a lot. I think it's well writen and I recommend it!
  
• 
  Shellie Whild

  Fairly decent if a little dry. Aimed at children/young people. I liked the way the book was separated into sections about Professor Hawking's life scattered through with factual information about his science. You could choose whether to read a section and still have a good understanding of the details.