Tough Mothers

April 1, 2018
In the follow-up to Rejected Princesses (2016), Porath compiles brief biographies about savvy, go-getter mothers whom history forgot despite their tangible impacts on today's world. These women?diverse in race, sexuality, and background?used their intelligence and passion to defy what society deemed impossible for women at the time. Mother L� spent years clothing and feeding young, poor men in China. She then armed them and led a rebellion, avenging her son. A black woman in Jim Crow Mississippi, Fannie Lou Hamer passed absurd literacy tests and endured torture to register to vote. Despite Sacajawea's rough childhood and abusive husband, she cheerfully led Lewis and Clark's expedition with a baby strapped to her back. Porath describes these accomplishments and many more with respect and awe, and his witty writing makes even the most gruesome tales fun to read (I'm looking at you, Ranavalona I of Madagascar.) A former Dreamworks artist, Porath draws these moms in all their variety, creating cartoony illustrations that are cinematic, upbeat, and inspiring.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)