'Hidden Figures' Author Gets Two-Book Deal

This article originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly. 

Margot Lee Shetterly, whose book Hidden Figures was adapted into the blockbuster 2016 film starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae, will write two new books with Viking, the publisher announced Monday.

In the vein of Hidden Figures, both books will examine “the idea of the American Dream and its legacy by excavating stories of other ‘hidden figures,’ extraordinary ordinary African-Americans whose contributions to American history have, for one reason or another, been untold, unseen, or overlooked.”

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The publisher’s summary of the first book is as follows:

The first book takes place in midcentury Baltimore, a bustling city of strivers and immigrants, and chronicles two African-American households alike in power and vision. The Murphy family, owners of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, were the reigning monarchs of Baltimore’s black society and the epitome of respectability. Willie Adams, whose original fortune came from the numbers racket, and his wife Victorine Adams, a schoolteacher turned politician, went on to become philanthropists, investors, and among the most ardent patrons of entrepreneurship and economic development in the city’s African-American community.

No publication dates have yet been announced for either of the two books.

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[MUSIC] Hi, I'm Octavia Spencer, and I play Dorothy Vaughan, the first African American female supervisor at NASA. Hi, I'm Taraji P. Henson, and I play Katherine Johnson, the mind that sent our men orbiting in space. Hey, I'm Janelle Monae, and I play Miss Mary Jackson, the first African American female engineer. And NASA. [MUSIC] I don't know anything about math. What I do share with [INAUDIBLE] Is her passion for what she loves to do. She loves numbers the way I love the craft of acting. My character Mary and myself have a lot of similarities. One, we both want to fight for something greater than ourselves. And speak up and speak out against injustices. Especially when it involves our race or our gender. We've come far, but I feel like we still have unfinished business. [MUSIC] Prior to the election, I would've said we have made excellent strides, and we have. But what this election has shown us is that there is a bigger chasm that we really could not comprehend. So I think there needs to be more of the Katherine, Mary Do the bond, moving each other forward, we need to champion each other. [MUSIC]