Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe - Amy S. Hansen - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Amy S. Hansen

ILLUSTRATOR: Rocío Arreola Mendoza

GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Biography

PUBLICATION DATE: August 19, 2025.

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A biographical picture book about the life of blind astrophysicist Wanda Díaz-Merced. Amazing story, excellent illustrations. Inspiring in every way. A great option for little STEM readers.

I grabbed this book without even knowing that it was a biographical story, totally missing the tagline on the cover: “A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe.” What actually caught my attention was that stunning cover art and that curious title about *hearing* the stars. Reading the book confirmed what an apt name it was for this powerful book.

Wanda Díaz-Merced grew up in a small Puerto Rico town. When she was nine, she was fascinated by the stars. Unfortunately, because of her diabetes, she began losing her eyesight while in college and soon was completely blind. Anyone else would have given up on the starry dreams, but Wanda strived on, motivated and supported by those around her, and completed her doctoral studies. Today, after a long career in astrophysics that took her to multiple countries, Wanda works as a faculty member at a university in Puerto Rico. Her achievements stand as the ultimate testimony to the importance of having inclusivity in all fields, including STEM, and how physical restrictions can still open up newer, alternate avenues of study.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this biography is inspiring. While it doesn’t go into certain nitty-gritties such as how Wanda got into college when there were financial constraints or how she learned Braille, it still offers enough information about her determination and persistence and her professional contributions to astrophysics. The aim of the book is to motivate youngsters to dream big, even when society might tell them otherwise.

At the end of the book, Wanda’s trials are highlighted through a detailed timeline of her life beginning from her college years. However, kids often don’t read bonus content, especially if it is text-intensive and lengthy. So the intent of showing her struggles gets fulfilled only partly in the core storyline as it glosses over a few essential intricacies. It would have been better if more of her challenges had been incorporated into the main storyline to establish clearly that her journey towards success wasn’t instant and she slogged harder than non-disabled people. (To be fair, the book did show how she trained herself to go from place to place counting the steps. But I wanted her learning struggles to be depicted more as this book is about educational dreams and career goals.)

The final pages also contain a personal note from Wanda, her friendship with the author, and some helpful additional resources. I found the bonus content helpful as it provided answers to several (though not all) questions I had. But again, I doubt all kids would read these as they are too text-heavy. The real-life photos help to some extent.

A part of me thinks that I would have appreciated Wanda’s inspiring story even more as a graphic novel. Though the picture book does achieve its purpose, it is too limited a length for such immense achievements. That said, any book that celebrates the life of a blind woman achiever whom most of us haven’t even heard about needs to be celebrated.

The vocabulary is slightly advanced for the younger readers of the target age group of 6-9 years. There are a few phrases in Spanish that serve to highlight Wanda’s Puerto Rican heritage – a decision I truly appreciate. A glossary at the end provides meanings of all Spanish words and also of the difficult English words.

The illustrations are outstanding, rich in the colours of Puerto Rico. Almost every page has starry embellishments that serve to further accentuate this amazing woman’s stellar life story.

Definitely recommended. This book would be a great option for classrooms and libraries as an inspiring biography, a motivator for STEM careers, and also a DEI resource.

My thanks to Charlesbridge for providing the DRC of “Wanda Hears the Stars” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.