Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Children's Nonfiction Science & Technology

Marie Curie

A Brilliant Life

by (author) Elizabeth MacLeod

Publisher
Kids Can Press
Initial publish date
Aug 2004
Category
Science & Technology
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781554532971
    Publish Date
    Feb 2009
    List Price
    $11.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781553375715
    Publish Date
    Aug 2004
    List Price
    $7.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554532964
    Publish Date
    Feb 2009
    List Price
    $14.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781553375708
    Publish Date
    Aug 2004
    List Price
    $16.95

Add it to your shelf

Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 8 to 18
  • Grade: 1 to 3
  • Reading age: 6 to 8

Description

As a poor student in Paris, Marie Curie piled clothes --- and furniture --- on top of herself to keep warm at night. But Marie went on to become the first woman to win a Nobel Prize --- and also the first person to win this award twice. Marie Curie's discoveries in radiation changed the world. She became one of the most important women in science and her research is still important to scientists and doctors today. Radiation is used as a treatment for cancer and to produce electricity, kill organisms that spoil food and detect smoke in homes. This book in the Snapshots: Images of People and Places in History series introduces one of the most important women in science and her inspiring life.

About the author

Liz is one nosy author, which is why she loves writing non-fiction. She’s very curious about why people do what they do, and likes sharing with kids the amazing facts and secrets that she uncovers.As a kid in Thornhill, Ontario, the idea of being a writer never crossed Liz’s mind—she figured most authors were already dead and they definitely weren’t Canadian. Besides, it was science that interested Liz.But writing was already part of Liz’s life. After dinner on school nights, Liz and her two brothers would trudge up to their rooms, close their doors and start to do their homework—or so their parents thought. A few minutes later, a piece of paper would come sliding under Liz’s door. One of her brothers had drawn a picture, usually of some weird creature.Liz really couldn’t draw (still can’t!), so the only way she could respond was to write a short story, often about a mad scientist or space alien. She would slip the story under her brother’s door and—well, not a lot of homework got done.At university, Liz studied sciences—there was hardly any writing involved at all. But after university, she was hired as an editor at OWL magazine, where she could combine writing and her love of science. But it wasn’t long before Liz had a goal: to write a book. Her first one was about lions and since then she’s written more than fifty others.Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns (2008) is one of her favourite books because royalty has always fascinated Liz. She loved going behind the scenes with monarchs from Cleopatra to Dracula to find out just what they would do to hold onto power or protect their families.Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History’s Mysteries (2013) was the winner of numerous awards, including the Crime Writers of Canada 2014 Arthur Ellis Award in the Juvenile/YA category. Liz’s latest book with Annick Press, Galloping Through History: Incredible True Horse Stories (Spring 2015), combines, once again, her outstanding storytelling skills with her passion for history. This time her love of animals also shines through as she recounts the stories of six horses that changed the way humans live, travel, fight, work, and play.Liz lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and their cat Cosimo. While she writes, he is usually sprawled across her desk—often right on the book she needs for research!

Elizabeth MacLeod's profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Red Cedar Book Award
  • Winner, Outstanding Science Trade Book, National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council
  • Short-listed, Book of the Year Award, ForeWord Magazine
  • Winner, YA Top Forty Nonfiction, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association

Other titles by