Rad Women Worldwide

July 4, 2016
In this companion to the picture book Rad American Women A–Z, Schatz writes short biographies of 40 noteworthy female figures past and present; though the book is technically published for adults, the brief profiles are readily accessible to children and teens. The subjects include artists, writers, revolutionaries, musicians, scientists, and politicians: Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman in space; Kasha Jacqueline Nagabasera is a Ugandan LGBTQ-rights activist; Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a self-taught 17th-century scholar credited with writing “the first feminist text of the New World”; and Junko Tabei was a Japanese “housewife and mother” who became the first woman to climb the South Summit of Mt. Everest. Josephine Baker, Venus and Serena Williams, and Malala Yousafzai are among the better-known figures. As in the previous book, Stahl’s cut-paper portraits provide handsome visual tributes to the women. Author’s agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

July 1, 2016
An international array of badass women through the ages and up to the present.Though Schatz reaches back to Enheduanna, the first named author in history, and Pharaoh Hatshepsut, most of the nearly 300 women she names have shown their courage and convictions within the past century or so. Most are just names (with country of origin), but she selects around 60 for admiring profiles. Some are such familiar figures as Frida Kahlo and Malala Yousafzai, but many more are likely to be new to most, and not just younger, readers, such as Colombian street artist Bastardilla, British punk trailblazer Poly Styrene, and Dame Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira, a leader in the modern revival of Maori language and culture. The author also pays tribute to groups, such as the first 14 Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, the six women charged with inventing ENIAC's initial programming, and, poetically, the millions of stateless refugees. Arranged in a rough geographical order, the profiles open with tagline quotes, plus black-and-white-paper portraits based on photos or historical images, and run to one or two double-columned pages in length. Though an afterword lays claim to much research and personal contact, there are no specific sources cited. Still, it's clear enough that these women lead or led "awesome, exciting, revolutionary, historic, and world-changing lives." More inspiration than documentation but definitively global in scope, a happy contrast to so many Eurocentric "world" surveys. (Collective biography. 11-15)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 6 Up-Schatz and Stahl present profiles of 40 extraordinary women from around the globe. The short biographies cover each woman's life and accomplishments and the great odds they faced. Coming from many continents and different time periods, all the women are portrayed as bold and heroic. There are subjects who lived thousands of years ago, such as the ancient Mesopotamian writer Enheduanna and Hatshepsut, the first and only female king of ancient Egypt. Included also are Grace "Granuaile" O'Malley, a 16th-century Irish sea captain; Berta and Nicolasa Quintreman, sisters belonging to the Mapuche people who inspired resistance against corporate destruction of land in 1980s Chile; and Sophie Scholl, who spoke out against the Nazis. A broad array of athletes, musicians, scientists, environmentalists, political activists, artists, and more create a vast tapestry of women's achievements and contributions to their individual societies and the world as a whole. Each profile includes a striking cut-paper portrait. The ending chapter, "The Stateless," is a call-and-response investigation of how the state of displaced peoples, refugees, and asylum seekers is a feminist issue. The call-and-response format oscillates between abstract thoughts ("What does it mean to be from a place? Or to be foreign? To belong, to not belong") and more formal, statistics-based answers ("Of the 60 million forcibly displaced people...almost 80 percent are women and children."). The volume concludes with a list, ordered alphabetically by country, of 250 additional women deemed exceptional. VERDICT This collection of energetic profiles is sure to spark discussion and encourage readers passionate about women's history and rights to do further research.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly at Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Mt. Carmel

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