This collective biography from the Great Scientists and Famous Inventors series profiles nine African American inventors: Lewis Howard Latimer, Jan E. Matzeliger, Granville T. Woods, George Washington Carver, Madam C. J. Walker, Garrett A. Morgan, Percy Lavon Julian, Patricia Era Bath, and Lonnie G. Johnson. Besides providing biographical information, the book discusses inventions such as the shoe-lasting machine, the three-way traffic signal, synthesized cortisone, and laser surgery for cataracts. The book's page design, using colors for backgrounds, borders, and sidebars as well as in the illustrations, sometimes distracts the eye from the text, but many of the illustrations, primarily photos and reproductions of drawings, are well chosen. Because the series is part of the MyReportLinks.com imprint, the book includes pictures of Web pages accompanied by directions for reaching online links to approved sites related to the inventors. Clearly written and logically organized, this volume provides a useful guide to the subject., Booklist February 1, 2010