Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark

Wells opens this upbeat biography of engineering ace Yvonne Clark (1929–2019) with an anecdote showcasing her early aptitude, recounting how she fixed the family’s toaster through self-study and trial and error. Presenting the figure as an instinctual problem-solver, text points out Clark’s boundary-defying persistence (“Because she was a girl, Yvonne wasn’t allowed to take certain classes—but that didn’t stop her from learning”) as she navigates college and male-dominated workplaces, such as an arsenal where she improves a firearm and NASA, where she tackles issues around the Saturn V rocket. Bright coloring enlivens Hodge’s slick, chunky digital artwork, which routinely presents Clark as wide-eyed with excitement, and pages bedazzled with comic book–style stars amplify the text’s snappy, often punning articulation of how passion’s “spark” can yield superhero-like powers. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–7. (Jan.)