SHE DID IT!: 21 Women Who Changed the Way We Think

Booklist Online Exclusive: November 29, 2018
“This insightful look at 21 women who left a legacy of inspiration introduces readers to such inspiring figures as Barbara Gittings, Patsy Takemoto Mink, and Shirley Chisholm, to name a few. The importance of women’s rights is contextualized in the back matter, which describes “eight things a woman could not do before the second wave.” Readers will learn that this “second wave” was a women’s movement in the 1960s, and that before it, women could not serve on a jury in most states or take out a bank loan. Readers will learn how more opportunities became available to women over the years, even as more conservative issues, working against them, continued to crop up. Despite advancements, this book reminds readers that “sexism is ancient and persistent and must be beaten back again and again.” Women’s rights and the harassment that still hangs on show that there is still work to do. The illustrations, consisting of portraits and spot art over white backgrounds, are striking and whimsical. A thorough introduction to the women’s rights movement and its American origins.”

– Jessica Anne Bratt

This impeccably researched and vividly written collection of biographies arrives at a key moment in the long road to gender equality. It will be a resource for families – Grandparents, parents and children – to explore the lives of a diverse group of high achieving women.

Jane Addams, Barbara Gittings and Dolores Huerta led movements that championed immigrants, lesbians and farm workers, respectively. Shirley Chisholm broke color and gender barriers, using politics to overcome opposition to reforms. Ethel Percy Andrus upended negative stereotypes around aging. Rachel Carson, a solitary writer, became a reluctant public figure to drive home her message of environmental disaster through the use of pesticides. Grace Hopper created a language that made personal computers possible.

These and the other artists, social justice advocates, scientific pioneers and business innovators are models for today’s girls as they begin to think about the possibilities that lie in their own futures.

Five individuals are still active – Joan Cooney, Temple Grandin, Dolores Huerta, Billie Jean King and Alice Waters – as re most of the participants in the collective story of the Second Wave of Feminism that began the movement for full equality.

Each of the 22 chapters features witty portraits and spots by Caldecott Medalist McCully.

Grandin

Chisholm

King —- Waters

Carson —- Huerta