Ever since I was a kid, I felt a strong desire to do the unexpected: A 9-year-old girl watching the World Wrestling Federation on TV and then recreating the action with her neighbors, a 5’2” volleyball player itching to play the front row, that same petite player wanting to join the army after high school. That last one didn’t end up panning out but I’ve always wanted to break out of whatever box I felt society put me in as a female. I love to write stories about women who broke barriers and made it possible for me, and the next generation, to continue to challenge expectations.
Kathrine Switzer changed the world of running. This narrative biography follows Kathrine from running laps as a girl in her backyard to becoming the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with official race numbers in 1967. Her inspirational true story is for anyone willing to challenge the rules.
The compelling collage art adds to the kinetic action of the story. With tension and heart, this biography has the influential power to get readers into running. An excellent choice for sports fans, New Englanders, young dreamers, and competitive girls and boys alike.
I’ll admit, ever since I saw Jaws as a kid I’ve been terrified of sharks. I don’t believe I’m alone in this. But this book offers readers a much more reasonable view of these mighty creatures of the sea, thanks to the fearless scientist, Eugenie Clark, who studied them. When others doubted her and told her to be a secretary or a housewife instead of a scientist, Eugenie only dove deeper into her work, becoming one of the smartest students in her field. And when others thought sharks were nothing but mindless killers, Eugenie proved them wrong. The extensive back matter and Author’s Note round out this impressive biography.
One of New York Times' Twelve Books for Feminist Boys and Girls! This is the story of a woman who dared to dive, defy, discover, and inspire. This is the story of Shark Lady. One of the best science picture books for children, Shark Lady is a must for both teachers and parents alike! An Amazon Best Book of the Month Named a Best Children's Book of 2017 by Parents magazine Eugenie Clark fell in love with sharks from the first moment she saw them at the aquarium. She couldn't imagine anything more exciting than studying these graceful creatures. But…
With a name (Chien Shiung) that means “courageous hero” how could this book about a brilliant female physicist be anything but great? This remarkable story is beautifully told through engaging and emotionally resonant text that has the reader routing for Chien Shiung from beginning to end. The level of physics referenced is approachable and the level of expertise Chein Shiung reached is unmatched. She was a true pioneer who was never deterred by discrimination based on her gender or ethnicity.
When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, girls did not attend school; no one considered them as smart as boys. But her parents felt differently. Naming their daughter "Courageous Hero," they encouraged her love of learning and science. This engaging biography follows Wu Chien Shiung as she battles sexism at home and racism in the United States to become what Newsweek magazine called the "Queen of Physics" for her work on how atoms split. Along the way, she earned the admiration of famous scientists like Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer and became the first woman hired…
I love that this book starts with an introduction to Cherokee values so the reader is able to fully understand their importance and impact on the life of Mary Golda Ross. As a young girl, and the only female in her college math class, she was motivated to excel, and excel she did. In 1950 she became the first female engineer at Lockheed Aircraft Company and was assigned to top-secret projects related to space and weapons programs. This is an inspiring women-in-STEM book with the additional benefit of indigenous values education.
Discover the story of how a math-loving girl blazed a trail for herself and others in this American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Picture Book, Classified: Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, a biography for children ages 7 – 11
Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work.
Cherokee author Traci Sorell and Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan trace Ross's journey from being the only girl in a high school math class…
The athlete in me was drawn to this story before I even opened the book. I hadn’t heard of Mamie Johnson and I imagine most kids haven’t either so I’m happy Leah Henderson decided to write about her. Ever since she learned about baseball at six years old, Mamie wanted to be on the mound more than anything. But “she already had two strikes against her: She was a girl. She was black.” Despite those challenges, Mamie was always ready to prove she deserved to play and eventually earned a spot pitching for the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro League.
Mamie "Peanut" Johnson had one dream: to play professional baseball. She was a talented player, but she wasn't welcome in the segregated All-American Girls Pro Baseball League due to the color of her skin. However, a greater opportunity came her way in 1953 when Johnson signed to play ball for the Negro Leagues' Indianapolis Clowns, becoming the first female pitcher to play on a men's professional team. During the three years she pitched for the Clowns, her record was an impressive 33-8. But more importantly, she broke ground for other female athletes and for women everywhere.
My first introduction to Selena Quintanilla was back in 1997 when Jennifer Lopez played her in the movie, Selena. So, when I saw Silvia López’s book I quickly picked it up. This book is as stunning as it is informative. The text is lengthier than many picture book biographies but it is so well done that the reader is eager to be immersed in this amazing life story. Not only did Selena break barriers within Tejano music, as it was traditionally performed by men, but she also crossed over into mainstream American music which helped open doors for future Latinx entertainers. One of Selena’s favorite sayings was, “Always believe that the impossible is possible,” and that’s definitely a message all kids need to hear.
"There's a lot of text in the book, but it's smartly framed within two-page spreads, and very little of it feels extraneous. ...A worthy picture-book primer on the Queen of Tejano music."-Kirkus Reviews
This is a moving and impassioned picture book about the iconic Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla, that will embolden young readers to find their passion and make the impossible, possible!
Selena Quintanilla's music career began at the age of nine when she started singing in her family's band. She went from using a hairbrush as a microphone to traveling from town to town to play gigs.…
Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of citations and interviews with more than 250 key protagonists, experts, and witnesses.
So far, the book is the main -- and only -- antidote to a slew of early partisan “Benghazi” polemics, and the first to put the attack in its longer term historical, political, and social context. If you want to understand some of the events that have shaped present-day America, from political polarization and the election of Donald Trump, to January 6, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian expansionism, and the current Israel-Hamas war, I argue, you need to understand some of the twists and turns of America's most infamous "non-scandal, scandal.”
I was in Benghazi well before, during, and after the attack as a US diplomat and co-director of a medical NGO. I have written three books, and have been a contributor to The NYT, Foreign Affairs, Forbes, Salon, The Financial Times, Newsweek, and others.
On September 11, 2012, Al Qaeda proxies attacked and set fire to the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing a US Ambassador and three other Americans. The attack launched one of the longest and most consequential 'scandals' in US history, only to disappear from public view once its political value was spent.
Written in a highly engaging narrative style by one of a few Western experts on Libya, and decidely non-partisan, Benghazi!: A New History is the first to provide the full context for an event that divided, incited, and baffled most of America for more than three years, while silently reshaping…
