Alan Turing (Little People, Big Dreams)

A simple yet sympathetic biography of the English mathematical genius and “father of computer science.” Among other incidents in his life, the book notes that young Alan “had fallen in love” with a friend and that they planned to go to university together, when the friend suddenly died. Alan felt alone and threw himself into his work, helping create a machine to crack German codes during World War II. After the war, however, he “became the victim of an unfair law against gay people. He lost his job and was forced to take a bizarre treatment that made him feel very sad.” The book does not explain what “gay” means; adult readers will need to fill that in for young ones who don’t already know. Some vagueness about his “treatment” is understandable for the target age group, however. The book goes on to explain that 50 years later, the British government apologized for its terrible treatment of Alan and other gay people, who “showed great courage by being themselves in a time of great prejudice.” Adults should be prepared to answer children’s questions about state-sanctioned homophobia, but the book offers historical context and a clear message that such actions are now seen as wrong.