(Image from Amazon.com)
Title: She Persisted:13 American Women Who Changed the World
Author: Chelsea Clinton
Publisher: Philomel Books
Copyright Date: 2017
Age Range: 4-8 years old
Lexile Level: 1170
Summary:
This book describes the lives of 13 incredible women who persisted to change the world. This book will inspire young girls to stand up for what they believe in even if it goes against what others believe is right or wrong. The book encourages girls to persist just like the women throughout our history. Each woman in this book is briefly described, illustrated and a quote of theirs is provided to the reader. At the end of the book, the author encourages the reader to persist just like the women in the book do, because everyone's voice is important.
Audience:
Children will enjoy this book about strong women and it will hopefully encourage them to grow up just as strong as the women in the book. I think young girls will especially enjoy this book, but boys who are interested in history will also find interest in this book. Adults are sure to love this book as well and it would be a great storytime book choice to read in schools or libraries during women's history month in March.
Read alikes:
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by: Debbie Levy
This biography discusses Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and explains that disagreeing with others isn't always a bad thing. She stands up for others and stands up for what she believes in.
Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History and Our Future by: Kate Shatz
Much like She Persisted, this book describes incredible women who have shaped history and fought for what they believe in.
Rosie Revere, Engineer By: Andrea Beaty
This picture book inspires young girls to follow their heart and do what they love even if it is out of the ordinary. With hard work and determination she is able to accomplish her goals.
Hi Kate, I was interested to read your review of She Persisted. When I was trying to decide about selecting this book for our library, I was surprised by the vast differences in the professional reviews. Kirkus was particularly unfavorable, but their reviews can sometimes be a little harsh, yet PW gave it a starred review. Even the customer reviews on Amazon were either very positive or very negative. Based on our readings from last week about accuracy in nonfiction, and your having read this book, would you recommend purchasing it?
ReplyDeleteHi Kate and Suzanne.
ReplyDeleteI went and read the Kirkus review after noting Suzanne's comment. Ouch! That's a pretty scathing review. (And, for the record, it's not inaccurate. I understand the complaints.) The review surprised me because the word of mouth on the book has been extremely high. It's been incredibly popular at my library, always checked out and with a rather lengthy hold list. But it also surprised me because I had done a cursory glance at the reviews when the book first came out and only read positive reviews. However, as mentioned above, in hindsight, I absolutely understand the criticism. The idea of the book is great. The actual carrying out of that idea leaves me wanting more. It's still worth buying for your library, though. My hope is that the authors consider this a first attempt and follow it up with a better executed sequel.
I enjoyed Kate's quote from another blog entry: "I love all of the recent publications about strong female women from our history!!!" That's a great point. There seems to be more and more books about strong women recently. But it also feels like there have been more books - especially picture books - featuring strong female characters, too. I have struggled with wanting to incorporate books like She Persisted in a storytime. I want to - but it feels like I'm shoe-horning them in. The picture books with strong female characters, on the other hand, have been very helpful and still have a positive impact.