The Radical Element

February 1, 2018

Gr 7 Up-This historical fiction anthology features stories set from the early-1800s to the 1980s about radical young women from different religions, backgrounds, socioeconomic groups, abilities, races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, and cultures. Additionally, not one protagonist is quite like the other in her "radicalness." Each story has an unique voice and tone, appealing to a variety of readers. Particular standouts are Dhonielle Clayton's "When Moonlight Isn't Enough" and Marieke Nijkamp's "Better for All the World." Clayton tells the story of an African American family who has discovered the secret to immortality. They have lived for over a century, consistently leaving the country in times of war in order to avoid assisting in any war efforts. Nijkamp focuses on Carrie Allen, a young woman with autism and aspirations to become a lawyer in the late 1920s. She takes on the case of Carrie Buck, a woman who has been deemed unfit to reproduce and will be sterilized. Nijkamp sheds light through the eyes of someone who would likely be considered unfit to reproduce by her society, bringing an honesty and pain to the story. After each entry, the author adds a note detailing her personal connection, historical details and facts, and additional sources. While the entries themselves are all fictional, they are set against the backdrop of American history, highlighting issues that have not been readily represented. This collection is extremely informative, intersectional, and inspirational, and will be sure to spark dialogue. VERDICT Recommended for all young adult collections.-Kat Paiva, Rye Public Library, NH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2018
Editor Spotswood offers a collection of historical stories about young women, bold and brave, many who traverse territory slated only for men.Rebekah, who comes from an Orthodox Jewish family, defies the traditional patriarchal hierarchy of the faith when she secretly meets with her friend Caleb to study Torah, forbidden to women. When these secret meetings are discovered, Rebekah is forced to make the bold choice of allegiance to religious tradition or her desire to be educated in it. In the 19th-century Southwest, Ray is a Mexican girl who poses as a boy to work as a stevedore among men while cheating them at cards to raise funds to reunite with her long-lost family. In "Lady Firebrand," interracial friends Pauline and Rose conspire to undermine the Confederacy by acting as undercover saboteurs for the Union. Crossing genres into fantasy, Emma McGee is a young black girl whose family has discovered a potion that gives them immortality. As U.S. involvement in World War II heightens, Emma is torn between keeping her family's secret and her desire to serve in the Army Nurse Corps. These are tales across time and cultures, offering diverse women as witnesses to historical times. Contributor Dhonielle Clayton sums up the necessity of such an anthology when she writes, "There are few stories about what nonwhite people endured [during World War II], and I wanted to explore that." A needed collection to broaden understanding of the many different faces of history. (Anthology. 14-18)

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February 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Spotswood follows up A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls (2016) by editing (and contributing a story to) another collection of historical fiction that centers around women. Twelve stories from acclaimed YA authors focus on women who, one way or another, have radical, groundbreaking experiences. Organized chronologically, the stories range from 1838 Savannah to 1984 Boston and represent girls of diverse skin tones, religions, sexual orientations, and ability. Standouts include Anna-Marie McLemore's Glamour, in which a young Mexican woman uses family magic to disguise her heritage as she navigates 1920s Hollywood; Dhonielle Clayton's When the Moonlight Isn't Enough, about an immortal African American girl struggling during WWII with how to help a country that hasn't always helped her; and Stacey Lee's Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave, which features a Japanese American teenager participating in a beauty pageant in 1955 California. Short story collections can be uneven, but this one has an admirable goal, and there is plenty to love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)