Mary: Catherine flew off to Vietnam at age 21, not much older than the young people I write for. I think young readers will be able to imagine themselves in her shoes and appreciate how incredible it was to fly halfway around the world, where she knew no one, and to scrape up a career the way she did, from having practically no knowledge of how to use a camera to rising to the peak of combat photography in a very short time.

My hope is that young people will be inspired by Catherine’s story as they think about the work they would like to do in their lives. Catherine had big ambitions. She was not afraid to take risks in an effort to get where she wanted to go, but she also worked very hard. Her success did not come easily in any way. Sometimes she put in many long, hard days slogging through the jungle in unbelievably difficult conditions and wasn’t able to take a single photograph she could sell.

 

The book is interesting for teens and adults. I had not heard of any of these women who work in wildlife research.

 

The profiles are personal, told in a conversational style and capture the passion these women feel for their work. The book covers creatures from land, see and air and their challenges to survive climate change, as well as wider social justice issues.​​​​​​​