Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 6-9. As in Six Days in October (2002), a compelling overview of the 1929 stock market crash and a financial primer, Wall Street Journal editor Blumenthal uses specific facts and fascinating personal stories to give readers a wide view of history. Here, the author looks at American women's evolving rights by focusing on the history and future of Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in U.S. education. Profiles of groundbreaking female athletes and legislators deftly alternate with highlights of the women's movement, from the early twentieth century through today. The dull paper stock diminishes the many black-and-white photos, but the images are still gripping, and relevant political cartoons and fact boxes add further interest. Few books cover the last few decades of American women's history with such clarity and detail, and this comprehensive title draws attention to the hard-won battles, the struggles that remain, and the chilling possibility that rights, if not fiercely protected, can easily be lost. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Three books demonstrate a host of individuals who offer inspiration. Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, the Law that Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal, author of Six Days in October, explains how pivotal the year 1972 was for women, with both the passage of the ERA and Title IX. As Blumenthal points out, Title IX was not just about sports. She describes the law's impact on everything from basketball to science and math classes. Profiles of individuals give the dramatic changes a human face, from Myra Bradwell, the first female lawyer in America, to Ruth Ginsburg's valiant struggle to get into a law firm, let alone make it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. A Title IX timeline and a "Then and Now" contrast demonstrates how far females have come in American society. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-A fascinating look at the birth, growth, stagnation, and final emergence of Title IX. While acknowledging the controversy surrounding this law, the author is unwaveringly supportive of its passage and implementation. Interesting and easy-to-follow chapters highlight the process of creating, revising, fighting for, and ultimately passing this legislation that gave girls and women equal access to physical-education classes, gymnasiums, universities, and graduate schools. Human-interest stories personalize the issues, and photographs of congresswomen fighting for equal opportunities for girls, women demonstrating, and the ultimate victory-a woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated-show how challenging, yet ultimately rewarding, the battle has been. Charts depict amazing statistics about the increase in athletic participation by females from 1970 to 2001. Cartoons show the humorous but painfully true attitudes of our culture toward women as they have strived to achieve equality in this country. The book closes with a "Then and Now" section highlighting the changes Title IX has brought about. Lynn M. Messina's Sports in America (H. W. Wilson, 2001) and Victoria Sherrow's Encyclopedia of Women and Sports (ABC-CLIO, 1996) both offer bits of information, but nothing out there comes close to Blumenthal's portrait of the emergence of women athletes in our society.-Julie Webb, Shelby County High School, Shelbyville, KY (c) Copyright 2010. 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
(Middle School, High School) Blumenthal's complex discussion of equal opportunity in athletics and education focuses on a pivotal piece of legislation enacted more than thirty years ago and contested year after year right into the new century. Title IX forbids discrimination by gender in schools and colleges receiving federal funds, and Blumenthal follows its political support and opposition decade by decade, interweaving the parallel increases in sports participation and accomplishment. Civil rights and women's history are part of the larger context here, and the busy but richly layered presentation includes inset essays on key events and individuals as well as statistical tables demonstrating changes in athletic participation and enrollments in colleges and professional schools. A generous selection of captioned photographs and political cartoons is also included. The political history becomes heavy at times but is also intriguing, and many of the legislators and sports figures are well worth meeting. Adults who care about developing the full potential of all young people should count themselves among the audience for the book, with its sobering conclusion on continuing and new inequities for boys and girls. Appended materials include a timeline, source notes, photo credits, bibliographies for young readers and adults, and an index. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The history of the small but wildly influential amendment known as Title IX receives a thoughtful, enlightening and inspiring treatment from the Sibert Honor-winning Blumenthal. Her narrative begins with the story of Donna de Varona, the Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer who watched her male colleagues receive swimming scholarships to college even as her own career abruptly ended. From this miscarriage of justice to the present, the text compellingly lays forth both the legislative fight to enact Title IX and the struggle to interpret the rules subsequent to its passage. Although the revolution Title IX created on the sports field gets the majority of the attention, the author is quite clear in detailing the overall educational advances women were able to make thanks to Title IX. This really splendid story receives absolutely criminal treatment from the designer, however, allowing page turns and sidebars to split sentences over whole pages, resulting in a sadly fragmented effect. Magnificent backmatter, including a time line, "then and now" comments from key players, extensive source notes, and suggested resources for further information, complement the narrative in making this a nearly perfect book, were it not for the execrable design. (Nonfiction. 10 ) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
