Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists

October 1, 2019
This graphic narrative traces the history of women's rights around the globe. When their purple-skinned, white-haired AI instructor introduces the subject of women's rights, the class of six young women breaks out in argument. The instructor responds by transporting them across time and space to show them the history of women's rights. Starting with ancient Sumer, the instructor exposes her class, and consequently, readers, to influential women from diverse backgrounds by highlighting the struggles and achievements of nearly 200 individuals who were leaders in a variety of areas of pursuit, including well-known figures such as Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Harriet Tubman as well as others who deserve to be better known. The content is both historical and up to the minute, with relevance to current issues, covering, among other topics, colonization, suffrage, civil rights, redress movements, the wage gap, sexual harassment, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ rights. Kendall's (contributor: Here We Are, 2017, etc.) informative text and D'Amico's realistic full-color illustrations also include brief biographies of contemporary women, including Naelyn Pike, an environmental and Indigenous rights activist, and Alice Wong, who advocates for disability rights. The unnamed students represent a diverse range of identities and manners of gender expression: Five of the six are people of color, one has a prosthetic limb, and another is hijabi. Source notes and suggestions for further reading would have been valuable additions. A fabulous introduction--informative, forthright, and highly appealing. (index) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-16)

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November 4, 2019
The fight for women’s rights perseveres through incremental progress, frustrating setbacks, and persistence in this wide-ranging history, with glorious gains celebrated along the way. Organized somewhat clunkily as a field trip through time (beginning in 4500 BCE and continuing to present day) led by an adorable, purple-skinned artificial intelligence, writer Kendall and artist D’Amico explore women’s courageous activities and activism, such as those of the shield-maidens of the Viking Age, or Josephine Baker’s espionage work on behalf of the French Resistance during WWII. The earliest chapters suffer from confusing panel layouts and stiff illustration, but this awkwardness gives way to lavish depictions of the fight for suffrage and the Harlem Renaissance. Kendall and D’Amico manage the challenge of inclusivity with aplomb. Lesser-known black activists, disability rights advocates, and Native American leaders are portrayed with the same fulsome treatment as household names such as Susan B. Anthony, all with an accessible tone and striking portraiture. Perhaps the largest omission is that of a bibliography—those looking to explore the sources relied upon are left without citations. Still, what is accomplished in these lively, jewel-toned pages speaks for itself. Agent: Charlie Olsen, Inkwell.

December 1, 2019

Kendall (editor, Hidden Youth: Speculative Fiction from the Margins) and D'Amico (Flowers in the Wind) present this primer on the major figures and key events in the ongoing struggle for women's rights. A group of students in a futuristic classroom are swept back to antiquity by their instructor, and an Artificial Intelligence, who then proceeds to guide them and readers on a fast-paced journey that leads to the present. Well-known leaders such as Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Queen Mary I appear alongside those perhaps lesser known to Western readers, such as Lady Xian of China and Queen Anna Nzinga of Hdongo and Matamba. This spirit of inclusivity continues throughout the book, which goes on to explore the roles women around the world play in resisting slavery and colonialism, and their contributions to the suffrage movement, civil rights, sexual revolution, and more, before concluding with a look at the current state of feminism and an urgent call to action, reminding that "equality isn't just an issue for the oppressed, it's an issue for us all." VERDICT An incredibly comprehensive resource for readers seeking a look at women's history that diverges from what is typically taught in school.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Framed as futuristic classroom discussion around the question, Women's rights: Who won them?, this expansive survey showcases a dizzying array of the many women who fought for theirs. Beginning with women's rights in ancient cultures and the eventual codification of patriarchal laws, Kendall soon gets down to business: scores of microprofiles of important women throughout history. D'Amico's strong portraits impart an air of dignity to each figure, and her wider-angle scenes depict diverse groups of women in action. This survey is especially laudable for the impressive diversity of women represented in its pages: Kendall goes to great lengths to include women from a wide range of time periods, locations, backgrounds, and areas of expertise. And, when it comes to some of the more familiar names (I'm looking at you, Susan B. Anthony), she pulls no punches about their many shortcomings. Occasionally the visual metaphors in the artwork are heavy-handed, and, with such a long list of women mentioned, there's not a lot of room for depth. Nevertheless, this is a stunning introduction that will be deeply illuminating to teen and adult readers about the long, vast, and ongoing history of women in power, and calls back to the opening question ( everyone had to work for women's rights ) makes it a stirring call to action.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)