Jellyfish Scientist: Maude Delap and her Mesmerizing Medusas

Written by: Michelle Cusolito
Published by: Charlesbridge

Coming April 22, 2025

---

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

“Illustrations have a cut-paper feel, lending a cozy depth to each scene with overlapping colors and textures. Calming, muted oceanic hues evoke a foggy Irish coastline. Each unique jellyfish floats in delicate, translucent layers of creamy pink...A compellingly told story of a quietly brilliant feminist figure. ” — Kirkus

---

Meet scientist Maude Delap in this riveting STEM biography that details her biggest experiment—her observations of and research about jellyfish.

Maude scoops a jellyfish out of the water and embarks on more than a year of observation of the animal, accomplishing something countless other scientists were unable to do: trace the life cycle of a jellyfish and understand the creature’s metamorphosis from larva to adult.

Maude’s story must be told. Her painstaking observations of a compass jellyfish in 1899-1900 laid the foundation for research still ongoing today.