Review by Booklist Review
This collection showcases more than 200 women whose contributions to society have changed the course of world history. Doyle states that this stunning compendium gives her audience an opportunity to listen to the female voices so often silenced by history books and social norms that spoke so much of the world's wisdom. Broken into five thematic categories, each profile consists of a one- to two-page biography with photos and inset boxes with more facts. Following the profiles are a few pages of additional notable women, with brief summaries of their achievements, as well as blank, lined pages earmarked for adding your own great women here (librarians, beware). There's a nicely balanced mix of famous and lesser-known women included Jane Goodall and Rosa Parks are no-brainers, but readers will also learn about Chien-Shiung Wu, who's known as the first lady of physics. The magazinelike layout and plentiful visual elements make this particularly well suited to browsing, but student researchers looking for project ideas might find plenty of inspiration here, too.--Lock, Anita Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-Covering individuals from antiquity to the present day, this book highlights many well-known, spirited women. Each entry is one to two pages long and is designed to resemble a case file. Some of the "files" are about groups or organizations of women (e.g., the Girl Scouts). The entries are informational, but the writing is occasionally awkward and unclear. (Helen Keller's page begins, "Many people know Helen Keller as the woman born blind and deaf" yet later states that "Helen was struck with an illness.that left her blind, deaf, and unable to speak.") The subjects are predominantly white, and at times the accomplishments of women of color are treated as an afterthought. For example, Shirley Chisholm and her run for president are mentioned at the bottom of Hillary Clinton's entry. Some profiles start with one woman, then add two or three more, making for an uneven reading experience. Photos and cartoon-style illustrations are included for each figure. However, many contemporary figures are without photos. VERDICT Browsable but ultimately unsatisfying. Consider only for collections in need of an overview of women's achievements.-Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Library, WA © Copyright 2016. 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 Kirkus Book Review
Heartfelt tributes to over 200 women, from Sappho to Hillary Clinton, who madeor are makinghistory.Not everyone here, as the subtitle has it, "Got There First," but all are notable for contributions to knowledge or culture, for feats of arms or athletics, and for breaking through gender barriers. Doyle arranges entries in chronological order within four broad categories, which results in a stimulating mix of bedfellows: early Somalian queen Arawelo, followed by Boudicca and then Chinese emperor Wu Zetian in "Politics and World-Building," for example; and Mary Leakey, Hedy Lamarr, and Sylvia Zipser Schur ("Inventor of the Corn-Dog-On-A-Stick") in "Science and Invention." Her profiles often include frank references to suicide (Virginia Woolf) or drug addiction (Billie Holiday), but the author also indulges in questionable claims ("Insects are usually classified by the male of the species"). Furthermore, along with turning "feminist icon" into practically a mantra, she's not beyond the occasional rhetorical tailspin: "Janis Joplin remains a bastion of blues and rock." More problematically, she cites no sources beyond the articles from commercial magazines and sites stuffed into an indigestible bibliography. The illustrations are an unsystematic scramble of portraits, caricatures, and filler. Generous swathes of inspiration, albeit over a foundation that seems shifty next to more-authoritative sources such as Ruth Ashby and Deborah Gore Ohrn's Herstory (1995). (index) (Collective biography. 11-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
