Celebrating Women

Once Alice Paul and I stood head to head and eye to eye. I was 13 years old; she was 86. We must have looked one another over carefully, because it’s her strong gaze, more than anything else, that I’ve remembered.” So Ann Bausum opens her outstanding history of the women’s suffrage movement, With Courage and Cloth–linking, with a personal memory, today’s young readers and a figure who played a central role in that struggle. In one way or another, that is what all of the other authors in this list are up to as well: finding contacts between the feelings, attitudes, and aspirations of today’s children and those of people–women in this case–who witnessed, or more often made, history.

The books were chosen with an eye for variety in approach as well as subject. Teena Apeles and Dorothy A. Mays both offer a well-populated biographical dictionary, but their prose couldn’t differ more in tone. Esther Nisenthal Krinitz unconventionally recounts her flight from persecution in stitched words and images, while Candace Fleming presents a rich tapestry of documentary evidence to provide insight into Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and times. Shana Corey, Deborah Hopkinson, and Marissa Moss spin richly satisfying baseball tales around genuine, if sometimes minuscule, knots of historical fact. All published within the past three years, the titles below can only suggest the enormous range of fields in which women have excelled. Whether actively seeking challenges, or having challenges thrust upon her, each of these extraordinary figures proved equal to the occasion, and together their stories shine in the warp and weft of our common history.—John Peters

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Fiction

BOWER, Tamara. How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt. illus. by author. S & S. 2005. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-689-84434-4.

Gr 3-5 –Bower gives an obscure ancient tale fresh life, bringing out its romance and feminism and enhancing it all with evocatively stylized illustrations, translated samples of hieroglyphics, and solid notes on other Egyptian scripts. Annoyed when his troops are defeated by an army of warlike women, Prince Pedikhons challenges Queen Serpot to single combat. After battling each other all day, the two proceed to fall madly in love and go off to conquer India, proving that even the oldest stories can reflect modern attitudes and behavior.

COREY, Shana. Players in Pigtails. illus. by Rebecca Gibbon. Scholastic. 2003. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-439-18305-7.

Gr 1-3 –Corey mingles fact with fiction in this lively account of young “Katie Casey” (a name familiar to all who know the verses, rather than just the chorus, of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”). Casey’s aptitudes incline far less to such “suitable” pursuits as knitting and dancing than to playing baseball, and she has a glorious time as a player in the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League formed during World War II. A high-spirited tribute illustrated in a retro style and capped with a historical afterword.

FAULKNER, Matt. The Pirate Meets the Queen. illus. by author. Philomel. 2005. RTE $15.99. ISBN 0-399-24038-1.

Gr 2-4 –Faulkner relates a rousing, though largely imagined, encounter between Irish pirate Granuaile (more often known as Grace, or Grania) O’Malley and fiery Queen Elizabeth–here aptly dubbed “Red Liz.” Sword at hip and long hair blowing in the sea breeze, O’Malley sets out for London to rescue her captured son. There she goes head-to-head with the equally tough-minded Queen; ultimately, the two earn one another’s respect as survivors in a world hostile to women. Both redheads cut decidedly heroic figures, despite very different backgrounds and dress.

HOPKINSON, Deborah. Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings. illus. by Terry Widener. S & S. 2003. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-689-83300-8; pap. $6.99. ISBN 1-4169-1393-9.

Gr 1-3 –In a fictional tale hung on a historical framework, Alta Weiss, who truly did pitch for a semipro team from 1907 to 1908, describes how she went from throwing corncobs at the cat as a youngster to persuading a skeptical manager to let her take the mound in a real game. Opening with an author’s note, illustrated with stylized but expressive paintings, and finishing with an actual photo of Weiss mimicking a windup, this story makes a pitch that may get more girls into Little League and perhaps beyond.

MOSS, Marissa. Mighty Jackie: The Strike-Out Queen. illus. by C. F. Payne. S & S. 2004. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-689-86329-2.

Gr 2-4 –The stuff of legend–but wait–it’s all (or mostly) true: in 1931 teenage minor-league pitcher Jackie Mitchell faced the two best hitters in baseball, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, in an exhibition game and proceeded to strike them both out. With Payne’s big, Thomas Hart Benton-style illustrations providing both a period look and a tall-tale feel, Moss recounts the young hurler’s training, re-creates her thoughts as she delivers each pitch, and milks the drama for all it’s worth.

WHITE, Linda Arms. I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote. illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Farrar. 2005. Tr $16. ISBN 0-374-33527-3.

Gr 2-4 –Compensating for a skimpy historical record with lively illustrations and a credible plotline, this account of the capable Wyoming hatmaker who became the first woman in the country to hold public office—and is said to have expedited the passage of the nation’s first state law giving women the vote—not only gives readers a sturdy, strong-minded woman to admire, but also some insight into one flavor of local politics.

WINTER, Jeanette. The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq. illus. by author. Harcourt. 2005. RTE $16. ISBN 0-15-205445-6.

Gr 2-4 –Skillfully walking a fine line for sensitive readers, Winter describes a heroic deed and the violence that impels it without going into potentially disturbing detail. Knowing that war is coming but unable to get any official assistance, Alia Muhammad Baker enlists friends and associates to help her move the books–“more precious to her than mountains of gold”–from Basra’s library into safer locations. Inspired by a news story, this suspenseful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful episode will help young readers to realize that courage in wartime isn’t owned by just one side.

WINTER, Jeanette. September Roses. illus. by author. Farrar. 2004. Tr $14. ISBN 0-374-36736-1.

Gr 2-4 –Based on a true incident, this small book, simply written and illustrated, stands as an affecting memorial of the tragic events of September 11th. Winter recalls coming upon thousands of roses laid out in the shape of the Twin Towers in New York’s Union Square Park. Hearing that they had been left there by two stranded florists from South Africa, she re-creates the women’s long journey, sensitively exploring how they came to share local residents’ deep sense of loss and found a way to express kinship and compassion.

Nonfiction

CHAMBERS, Veronica. Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa. illus. by Julie Maren. Dial. 2005. RTE $15.99. ISBN 0-8037-2970-7.

Gr 2-4 –With art as bright as the feathers of tropical birds and a text that sings with the rhythms of salsa, this portrait of the beloved Cuban American performer captures both her profound love of making music and the heartache of having to leave her native land. Beyond that, though, it also explores the combination of dedication and resilience that informed her character. A vibrant tribute to a woman who “was not born a princess,” but nonetheless became a Queen.

CHENEY, Lynne. A Is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women. illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser. S & S. 2003. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-689-85819-1.

Gr 3-5 –Eye candy with a fair bit of intellectual nourishment on the side, this tribute to women of achievement pairs telling quotes and scattered but cogent biographical notes with exuberantly drawn, finely detailed scenes. Featuring a cast of hundreds, climaxed by a double gatefold “concert” starring a host of renowned performers, it’s a gallery that not only highlights a vast array of women’s individual accomplishments, but will sweep young readers into a heady session of consciousness-raising as well.

CHRISTENSEN, Bonnie. The Daring Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter. illus. by author. Knopf. 2003. Tr $16.95. ISBN 0-375-81568-6; PLB $18.99. ISBN 0-375-91568-0.

Gr 2-4 –Illustrated with lively scenes resembling period newspaper engravings, this account of the crusading journalist’s scoops and exploits makes exciting reading and traces a career that, the author declares, “changed how the world viewed women and paved the way for the young women who followed.” Whether going undercover to expose the squalid conditions in an asylum or serving as a war correspondent in the First World War, Bly demonstrated a fearlessness and an ability to capture public attention that few reporters have matched.

GIOVANNI, Nikki. Rosa. illus. by Bryan Collier. Holt. 2005. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-8050-7106-7.

Gr 3-5 –An eloquent narrative and powerfully expressionistic art paint Rosa Parks with a heroic sheen. Cast as a capable, strong-minded woman who sat down that fateful day ready and able to face the consequences, Parks actually glows in the illustrations–fittingly, as her experience lit the way for those who organized the subsequent bus boycott and, like the marchers depicted on a culminating double foldout, were moved to so many further acts of courage.

MCCUTCHEON, Marc. The Kid Who Named Pluto: And the Stories of Other Extraordinary Young People in Science. illus. by Jon Cannell. Chronicle. 2004. Tr $15.95. ISBN 0-8118-3770-X.

Gr 3-5 –Peer role models for young female scientists have traditionally been hard to identify, but this collective biography takes steps to redress that. Among nine figures of both sexes from the past 200 years who made a mark in the sciences at an early age, McCutcheon profiles fossil hunter Mary Anning, Venetia Burney (the 11-year-old “kid” of the title), mathematical genius Sarah Flannery, and Emily Rosa, a nine-year-old whose science project won national press coverage in the mid-’90s.

SLAYMAKER, Melissa Eskridge. Bottle Houses: The Creative World of Grandma Prisbrey. illus. by Julie Paschkis. Holt. 2004. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-8050-7131-8.

Gr 2-4 –Offering evidence that the urge to create can sometimes find decidedly unconventional expression, the author introduces a California folk artist who “wasn’t a regular sort of person who did things in a regular sort of way.” Observing that “there are different kinds of art,” Tressa Prisbrey left behind a glittering “village” of houses, monuments, walls, and other constructions made over many years from thousands of glass bottles and other castoffs. Like the Watts Towers of Los Angeles, her achievement stands as an inspiring reminder that art should confound expectations.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Nonfiction

APELES, Teena. Women Warriors: Adventures from History’s Greatest Female Fighters. Seal Press. 2004. pap. $14.95. ISBN 1-58005-111-1.

Gr 4-6 –Though too disorganized to work well as assignment fodder, this breezy compendium, by far the most inclusive gathering of its sort, profiles dozens of ancient, modern, and legendary girls and women–from the historical likes of Joan of Arc, Vietnam’s Trung Sisters, Golda Meir, and Mia Hamm to such unusual entries as the Powerpuff Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Apeles draws examples from every inhabited continent except Australia and caps her rousing gallery with a multimedia resource list. Weaker sex? I don’t think so.

ARNESEN, Liv, Ann Bancroft, & Cheryl Dahle. No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Extraordinary Journey across Antarctica. Da Capo. 2003. Tr $26. ISBN 0-7382-0794-2.

Gr 6-9 –Here’s adventure 21st-century style, as two ex-teachers set out to be the first women to cross Antarctica on foot, towing sledges carrying not only supplies, but also a laptop and other electronic equipment that allow them to do telephone interviews with CNN, as well as check in regularly with school classes following their trek. Despite a triumphant finish, what will stay with readers longest is the terror, pain, and exhaustion that became constant companions on the journey.

ATKINS, Jeannine. How High Can We Climb? The Story of Women Explorers. illus. by Dusan Petricic. Farrar. 2005. Tr $17. ISBN 0-374-33503-6.

Gr 5-8 –From Jeanne Baret, who was the first woman to sail around the world, to explorer Ann Bancroft, Atkins introduces a dozen daring expeditions into the world’s heights, depths, and nether reaches, featuring women who will be new to most readers and related in ways that will keep those readers on the edges of their seats. Atkins invents scenes and dialogue to fill in gaps, but in general she doesn’t stray far from the historical record and provides helpful resource lists at the end.

BAUSUM, Ann. With Courage and Cloth: Winning the Fight for a Woman’s Right to Vote. National Geographic. 2004. Tr $21.95. ISBN 0-7922-7647-7; PLB $32.90. ISBN 0-7922-6996-9.

Gr 5-8 –Inventive book design and passionate writing kick this account of the climactic years of this country’s suffragist movement up a notch. Drawing from both published and unpublished sources, Bausum focuses on the movement’s more radical arm that, led by Alice Paul, staged rallies, marches, pickets, and hunger strikes to push the government into action, and more than occasionally came in for some shocking treatment in response. Readers of either sex will be far less likely to take our civil rights for granted after learning how dearly this particular one was bought.

CHIN-LEE, Cynthia. Amelia to Zora: Twenty-six Women Who Changed the World. illus. by Megan Halsey & Sean Addy. Charlesbridge. 2005. RTE $15.95. ISBN 1-57091-522-9.

Gr 4-6 –A selection of women who took unusual paths over the past century, this roster mixes such familiar figures as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa with the less-well-known likes of Union activist Dolores Huerta, artist Quah Ah, and astronomer Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin. Each profile notes some childhood incident along with major accomplishments and is paired to a semiabstract collage portrait. It’s not the most detailed collective biography around, but it’s one of the most diverse in terms of its subjects’ cultural backgrounds and range of achievements.

DEMI. Mother Teresa. illus. by author. S & S. 2005. RTE $19.95. ISBN 0-689-86407-8.

Gr 4-7 –Blending poems and biblical passages with biographical information, Demi follows Mother Teresa from her Yugoslavian childhood to worldwide renown as a voice for India’s poorest. The book itself is beautiful, with gold-framed scenes rendered with the artist’s usual delicacy–but what will linger with readers, along with Mother Teresa’s message, is the sheer force of her personality.

FLEMING, Candace. Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Life. S & S. 2005. Tr $19.95. ISBN 0-689-86544-9.

Gr 5-8 –Every year, it seems, brings at least one new biography of Eleanor Roosevelt–but this one is something special. Using a scrapbook approach, Fleming surrounds her brief narrative with arrays of diary entries, contemporary news clippings, cartoons, letters, period photographs, and other documentary evidence–all of which combine brilliantly to bring out the rich, complex character of the First among all First Ladies. With facts that may surprise even long-standing fans, this book sheds light on the most frequently profiled woman in our country’s history.

FRADIN, Judith Bloom & Dennis Brindell Fradin. The Power of One: Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine. Clarion. 2004. Tr $19. ISBN 0-618-31556-X.

Gr 5-8 –The Fradins center this powerful account of the landmark struggle to integrate Central High School on the life and career of Bates, who organized and led the team that supported the nine teenagers who braved threats, hatred, and relentless harassment in the name of justice. Based on interviews with eyewitnesses and other primary sources, this account will leave readers with a clear sense of the intensity of feeling on both sides of this historic conflict, as well as tremendous respect for the accomplishments of Bates and the Little Rock Nine.

FREEDMAN, Russell. The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights. Clarion. 2004. Tr $18. ISBN 0-618-15976-2.

Gr 5-7 –A Sibert Award winner presents readers with the exemplary life and career of a performing artist who combined extraordinary talent with an equally extraordinary social conscience. In his typically well-reasoned, carefully documented account, Freedman tracks Anderson’s rise from humble origins to world renown, with special attention to her parallel “career” as an advocate for equal rights for African Americans. Enhanced by period photos and unusually strong, dignified book design, this biography demonstrates the power that one woman’s voice can wield.

KRINITZ, Esther Nisenthal & Bernice Steinhardt. Memories of Survival. illus. by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz. Hyperion. 2005. RTE $15.99. ISBN 0-7868-5126-0.

Gr 4-6 –Paired to prose interpretations and transcriptions of stitched passages, this set of embroidered scenes re-creates with penetrating simplicity the life of a Jewish child before and during the Nazi occupation of Poland. In memorable images that range from charming to shocking, Krinitz depicts cozy scenes of rustic daily life, the arrival of the soldiers, the increasing repression, and her desperate flight with her sister, ending with a view of the Statue of Liberty as the refugees arrive, after many hardships, in New York.

KRULL, Kathleen. A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull. illus. by Jane Dyer. Walker. 2004. Tr $16.95. ISBN 0-8027-8908-0; PLB $17.85. ISBN 0-8027-8909-9.

Gr 4-6 –Rising from humble origins to wealth, at first as a child preacher, then as spiritual and financial advisor to tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, Woodhull went on to become a player on Wall Street, a suffragist, and, 50 years before women got the vote, a candidate for President of the United States. Krull tells the tale with verve, and will leave readers not only entertained by Woodhull’s exploits, but also awed by the harsh attitudes and obstacles with which she contended. A riveting biography of a colorful, brilliant, and inexplicably obscure historical figure.

MAYS, Dorothy A. Women in Early America: Struggle, Survival, and Freedom in a New World. ABC-CLIO. 2004. Tr $95. ISBN 1-85109-429-6.

Gr 6 Up –The best single-volume source on the place and contributions of women in our country’s early history, this scholarly encyclopedia combines profiles of several dozen individuals with searching essays on topics as diverse as “Cooking,” “Islamic Women,” and “Marriage and Family among Enslaved Women.” Rich in hard-to-find information, and well-endowed with features to facilitate access to it, this is an authoritative, essential tool for reference and assignment use.

NATHAN, Amy. Count on Us: American Women in the Military. National Geographic. 2004. RTE $21.95. ISBN 0-7922-6330-8.

Gr 5-8 –From the Revolutionary War to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, women have participated in every major U.S. war. Here Nathan lays out the story with a mix of short profiles, comments drawn from interviews, explanatory background, and side essays–all much enhanced by a generous selection of telling photos and period images. As women are inching their way at last into truly integral roles in our country’s military, this book makes timely reading for its affirmation that courage and ability have never been in short supply among women who wished to serve.

SHETTERLY, Robert. Americans Who Tell the Truth. illus. by author. Dutton. 2005. RTE $18.99. ISBN 0-525-47429-3.

Gr 4-7 –A stirring visual tribute to our country’s proud tradition of protest, this gallery of portrait paintings gives equal space to the men and women who stood up for, as Shetterly puts it, “the promise of America.” Along with pithy quotes, children will come face to face not only with such well-accepted heroes as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rosa Parks, and child peace activist Samantha Smith, but also with eloquent political columnist Molly Ivins, author Frances Moore Lappé (Diet for a Small Planet)–and even the radical likes of Emma Goldman.

THIMMESH, Catherine. Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics. illus. by Douglas B. Jones. Houghton. 2004. Tr $17. ISBN 0-618-39666-7.

Gr 4-7 –With uncommon verve, Thimmesh traces the course of women in the modern international political arena, profiling with evenhanded admiration pivotal figures, from Susan B. Anthony to Benazir Bhutto, who have left, or are leaving, “a lasting footprint—whether it be pointy toed and spike-heeled or rubber soled and loosely laced—on the very bedrock of America” and the world. A breezy, eye-opening mix of entertainment, information, and inspiration.

WEBER, EdNah New Rider. Rattlesnake Mesa: Stories from a Native American Childhood. photos. by Richela Renkun. Lee & Low. 2004. RTE $18.95. ISBN 1-58430-231-3.

Gr 4-7 –Weber recalls changes in her childhood after the death of her beloved grandmother when she moves to a Navajo reservation, and then to an Indian School. Billed as autobiographical vignettes but with a dreamlike, almost folkloric air to them, this unconventional collection of anecdotes is paired to abstract, atmospheric photographs and will take readers deep into a distinctive way of life and thought enriched by complex personal and family ties—as well as tears, laughter, and a history of deep, deep injustice.

WILLIAMS, Jean Kinney. Bridget “Biddy” Mason: From Slave to Businesswoman. Compass Point. 2005. PLB $22.95. ISBN 0-7565-1001-5.

Gr 4-6 –Williams combines an account of the rise and westward movement of the Mormons with a biographical account of a strong-charactered woman who sued for her freedom from a Mormon master. She then went on to become a prominent and active member of her community as well as the first African American woman to own property in Los Angeles. This unusual entry in the “Signature Lives” series is nicely enhanced by modern maps and well-chosen period illustrations, plus a multimedia resource list.