How Engineer Raye Montague
Revolutionized Shipbuilding
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Little, Brown for Young Readers
(pub.1.30.2024)
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Jennifer Swanson
Illustrator: Veronica Miller Jamison
Character: Raye Montague
Overview:
"Girls like Raye Montague weren’t supposed to like math or science, or go to engineering school. But tenacious Raye had a plan, one that eventually took her all the way to the US Navy. There, she was assigned an impossible task: to come up with a single computer program that could design every part of a ship. It had never been done before—but Raye’s groundbreaking program revolutionized the way ships and submarines were built, and set her on a path to become a pioneering figure in naval engineering and the navy’s first female program manager of ships.."
Tantalizing taste:
"In just eighteen hours and twenty-six minutes, Raye's new program built the first ever comprehensive ship design.
No one thought a woman could do it.
No one thought a Black woman could do it.
But Raye Montague became the first person to do it."
And something more: The author, Jennifer Swanson, shared in the Author's Note: "I was honored to interview Raye in 2017. Listening to her speaking about her accomplishments was amazing ... and quite humbling. Raye's passion and sheer determination to succeed in spite of the many obstacles placed in her path because of her race, her sex, and her lack of training came through in every story she told ...
As a 1990 graduate of the US Naval Academy (only the eleventh class that included women), I experienced a tiny bit of what Raye went through, struggling to be recognized as the USNA adjusted to life with women on campus. I am proud to have served in the US Navy and hope I broke some small barriers along the way."
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