Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge

In this affectionate biography, Dougherty tells the story of Emily Roebling, who was pivotal to the design and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. A curious learner as a child, she later marries engineer Washington Roebling, who plans to construct a means “to finally link Manhattan and Brooklyn.” But when her husband falls ill, Roebling educates herself about engineering and oversees the building of the initially controversial (“The skinny wires look too weak”) but soon beloved landmark. In Dougherty’s accessible artwork, Roebling appears as a gentle, smiling figure, undaunted by the task at hand. The integration of architectural blueprints provides readers with a sense of the bridge’s design, as do photographs appearing in endpapers. Ages 5–8.[em] (Feb.) [/em]