Review by Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-History and humor blend in this new series that covers women whose lives have shaped the United States. The taglines included on the covers provide clues about each individual's contribution. In Dolley Madison, Krull covers the First Lady's popular "Wednesday Nights," formal dinners at the White House ("Parties can be patriotic"), which gave guests the opportunity to socialize and network. Sacajawea details Lewis and Clark's guide's knowledge of languages and the Northwest, which ensured the success of the expedition ("Lewis and Clark would be lost without me"). Sonia Sotomayor stresses the Supreme Court justice's lifelong commitment to making the right choices ("I'll be the judge of that") and working hard to overcome challenges and meet goals. Judy Blume describes the acclaimed author's commitment to writing honestly and realistically ("Are you there, reader? It's me, Judy!"), which has made her the target of censorship. An upbeat tone runs through these books, and Krull's language is accessible, occasionally making use of the vernacular, such as describing Sotomayor as being "jazzed" about a scholarship or referring to the Founding Fathers as "FF." Sacajawea's story has a guide for accurate name pronunciation, and there's an extensive further reading list, but quotes are unsourced. Several picture books and collected biographies about women are available, including some by Krull, but there hasn't been a series of individual books about women for this grade level since Blackbirch's "Library of Famous Women" and "Library of Famous Women Juniors." Interior color illustrations, executed by different illustrators and in different styles, further enhance these titles. VERDICT Visually appealing, with quality information, these books are ideal offerings for most collections.-Sharon M. Lawler, formerly of Randolph Elementary, Randolph AFB, TX © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-History and humor blend in this new series that covers women whose lives have shaped the United States. The taglines included on the covers provide clues about each individual's contribution. In Dolley Madison, Krull covers the First Lady's popular "Wednesday Nights," formal dinners at the White House ("Parties can be patriotic"), which gave guests the opportunity to socialize and network. Sacajawea details Lewis and Clark's guide's knowledge of languages and the Northwest, which ensured the success of the expedition ("Lewis and Clark would be lost without me"). Sonia Sotomayor stresses the Supreme Court justice's lifelong commitment to making the right choices ("I'll be the judge of that") and working hard to overcome challenges and meet goals. Judy Blume describes the acclaimed author's commitment to writing honestly and realistically ("Are you there, reader? It's me, Judy!"), which has made her the target of censorship. An upbeat tone runs through these books, and Krull's language is accessible, occasionally making use of the vernacular, such as describing Sotomayor as being "jazzed" about a scholarship or referring to the Founding Fathers as "FF." Sacajawea's story has a guide for accurate name pronunciation, and there's an extensive further reading list, but quotes are unsourced. Several picture books and collected biographies about women are available, including some by Krull, but there hasn't been a series of individual books about women for this grade level since Blackbirch's "Library of Famous Women" and "Library of Famous Women Juniors." Interior color illustrations, executed by different illustrators and in different styles, further enhance these titles. VERDICT Visually appealing, with quality information, these books are ideal offerings for most collections.-Sharon M. Lawler, formerly of Randolph Elementary, Randolph AFB, TX (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Krull meets the challenge of balancing fact and speculation head-on, occasionally tripping on her modern phrasing ("Hidatsa women helped their economy sizzle") and glossing over certain facts (such as the adoption of Sacajawea's young son by Meriwether Lewis). Collins's paintings support the account, though at times his subjects' facial expressions appear cartoonish. An informative and well-researched offering, despite its pitfalls. Reading list, websites. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This brisk and pithy series kickoff highlights Sacagawea's unique contributions to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Joining her "clueless" French-Canadian husband and so becoming "part of one of the smartest hiring decisions in history," 16-year-old Sacagawea not only served as translator and diplomat along the way, but proved an expert forager, cool-headed when disaster threatened, and a dedicated morale booster during four gloomy months in winter quarters. She also cast a vote for the location of those quarters, which the author points to as a significant precedent in the history of women's suffrage. Krull closes with a look at her subject's less-well-documented later life and the cogent observation that not all Native Americans regard her in a positive light. In Collins' color paintings, she poses gracefully in fringed buckskins, and her calm, intelligent features shine on nearly every page. The subjects of the three co-published profiles, though depicted by different illustrators, look similarly smart and animatedand behave that way too. Having met her future husband on a "date," Dolley Madison (illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher) goes on to be a "rock star," for instance. Long before she becomes a Supreme Court justice with a "ginormous" work load, Sonia Sotomayor (illustrated by Angela Dominguez) is first met giving her little brother a noogie. Though Krull's gift for artfully compressed narrative results in a misleading implication that the battle of New Orleans won the War of 1812 for the United States, and there is no mention of Forever in her portrait of "the most banned author in America," Judy Blume (illustrated by David Leonard), young readers will come away properly inspired by the examples of these admirable rule-breakers. The author of the justly renowned What the Neighbors Thought series digs a little deeper with these equally engaging single volumes. (source and reading lists, indexes) (Biography. 9-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
