Ocean Speaks: Marie Tharp and the Map That Moved the Earth

Meet Marie Tharp (1920-2006), the first person to map the Earth’s underwater mountain ridge, in this inspiring picture book biography from the author of Shark Lady.

From a young age, Marie Tharp loved watching the world. She loved solving problems. And she loved pushing the limits of what girls and women were expected to do and be. In the mid-twentieth century, women were not welcome in the sciences, but Marie was tenacious. She got a job at a laboratory in New York. But then she faced another barrier: women were not allowed on the research ships (they were considered bad luck on boats). So instead, Marie stayed back and dove deep into the data her colleagues recorded. She mapped point after point and slowly revealed a deep rift valley in the ocean floor. At first the scientific community refused to believe her, but her evidence was irrefutable. She proved to the world that her research was correct. The mid-ocean ridge that Marie discovered is the single largest geographic feature on the planet, and she mapped it all from her small, cramped office.

JESS KEATING is a zoologist-turned-author who writes with the sort of wisdom you can only get from multiple crocodile bites and skunk sprays. Jess has been making up stories for as long as she can remember, and at the age of eight, she even started a library in her room (mainly so she could charge her brother late fees). She is the author of Shark Lady, Pink is for Blobfish, What Makes a Monster? and Cute as an Axolotl. She lives with her husband in Ontario, Canada, where she is hard at work on her next book.

KATIE HICKEY is a freelance illustrator living in Cornwall, England. Having grown up in Cornwall, and also in the middle-east, Katie takes inspiration from her travels and surroundings to create characterful and atmospheric images. She has illustrated two other picture books: The Lumber Jills and Once Upon a Magic Book.