(2) K-3 Illustrated by Toshiki Nakamura. In this accessible and engaging picture-book biography, Bryant (Feed Your Mind, rev. 1/20; Above the Rim, rev. 11/20) focuses on the ways groundbreaking Japanese American legislator from Hawaii Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927–2002) overcame setbacks in her life and career. Early on, Bryant invokes the Japanese saying "Fall down seven times, stand up eight," explaining that it means "never give up!" She repeats this refrain throughout the book, applying it to the many hurdles Mink faced--as a college student fighting segregation, an aspiring doctor denied entrance to medical schools, the only woman in her law school class, and the first woman of color in the U.S. Congress. The climax of the narrative comes as Mink fights to ensure that her signature legislation, Title IX, will protect the rights of female athletes. Bryant's clear prose draws a distinct line from Mink's childhood precociousness and fortitude to her adult accomplishments. In doing so, she renders a somewhat abstruse concept (education legislation) engaging to her target audience. Nakamura's digital illustrations complement the text, with finely drawn facial expressions underlining the emotional impact of the historical events. The art also expands on the text; one illustration contrasts a boys' well-funded basketball team with a girls' team playing in a makeshift space. Back matter includes a timeline of Mink's life, a selected biography, and sources for direct quotes.

Reviewer: K Rachael Stein | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA This historical novel in verse, set mainly in 1920s Cuba, is an engrossing look at the protracted fight for women's suffrage there. The story is told through the eyes of Rima Marín, a spirited young girl (twelve when the book begins) who is denied any legal recognition or rights because she is a so-called "natural" child (her parents are unmarried). She and her mother and abuela live as squatters on her wealthy father's land. Rima resents her second-class status--especially when she has to be of service to her privileged half-sister. Former independence fighter Abuela has raised Rima to be the next generation of feministas on horseback; when she rides her favorite horse, Rima feels "God's / love of freedom instead of society's / belief in harsh rules." The three women belong to a suffrage club, but their efforts to gain the vote for women are stymied and delayed by tyrannical leaders and by the existence of repressive colonial laws. Engle's (Your Heart, My Sky, rev. 3/21) spare, lyrical writing and the believable human emotions shown through Rima's individual perspective bring to life the complex fight for equality and civil rights. A historical note provides background about the struggle for women's suffrage in Cuba, and a timeline puts that battle in international context.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA The morning after attending a fair run by (fictional) Faber College's fraternities, fifteen-year-old Nora wakes up on the golf course without any memory of how she got there. Her best friend, Camille, is by her side and explains that the night before, three guys removed Nora's underwear and hung it from a flagstick at the course before their classmate, Adam, chased them away. As Nora grapples with the implications of what ­happened--and what could have happened if Adam hadn't intervened--Cam and Adam decide to find out who the guys were. Their investigation leads to unsavory revelations about one of Faber's fraternities and about the college's charismatic, beloved athletic director--who is also Nora's dad. The victim-shaming that follows is depressing but familiar; the novel unflinchingly exposes the sexism inherent in excusing men's assaultive behavior while blaming women because of how they're dressed or how much they drank. More subtle but equally devastating is the fall from grace of Nora's father, "her favorite person in the world"; his refusal to accept responsibility adds a layer of trauma and makes it more difficult for Nora to speak out. Her eventual decision to formally accuse her attackers is a powerful one as she courageously reclaims her voice and her story: it's a small, satisfying step toward justice.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) YA When Mimi turns sixteen, her mother, Tiffany, delivers a family inheritance: notebooks filled with poetry penned by their female ancestors and a blank one in which to write her own. Mimi--a guarded loner whose DIY fashions made her internet famous--is skeptical of anything Tiffany has to offer. Their formerly tight relationship is now strained, with contention over Mimi's social media activity and Tiffany's sketchy boyfriend. After Tiffany publicly accuses a respected male celebrity of sexual misconduct, a ­bewildered and angry Mimi turns to her family's written history and uncovers a difficult legacy of women suffering under male expectations, harassment, and even assault. Mimi's raw, unstructured free-verse poems are intimately narrated, drawing readers close to her messy, competing emotions as she processes both Tiffany's revelation and her own unsettling experiences with men, online and in person. Poems from her ancestors' notebooks are told in a too-similar voice but are nonetheless riveting historical snapshots tracing a painful lineage of silence. When mother and daughter eventually stand up for each other, their moving reunification is encouraging. Among a growing selection of novels that approach #MeToo themes from a teen perspective (see also Charles's Muted, rev. 3/21, and Caletti's One Great Lie, rev. 9/21), this one stands out for its complex, thought-provoking depiction of intergenerational trauma.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov. Growing up during the Great Depression, young Kip Tiernan saw her grandmother open their home to those in need, handing out food, shoes, and other items to "good men who have come upon hard times." As an adult, she worked for Warwick House in Boston, a service organization and shelter. "At that time, shelters were only for men. Women had to disguise themselves to get a meal and a bed." Tiernan began to fight for women experiencing poverty and homelessness ("Again and again, she heard this answer: homelessness isn't a women's problem"). Finally, in 1974, she was able to open Rosie's Place, the country's first shelter for women, still in operation today. McDonnell's straightforward and informative text incorporates well-chosen quotes that further demonstrate her subject's iron-willed determination, questioning of the status quo ("Who decides who gets the condo and who gets the cardboard box?"), active listening, and deep empathy ("The face of homeless women is our face. She is our mother, our sister, our daughter and she deserves more than three hots and a cot"). Tentler-Krylov's (Building Zaha, rev. 3/21) watercolor and digital illustrations, featuring soft colors and rounded edges, emit warmth and beautifully depict the healing power of human connection. Appended notes (including sources) tell more about Tiernan's life and times and explain some of the structural causes behind homelessness.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA The remarkable life of Black activist, attorney, and Episcopal priest Pauli Murray (1910–1985) is presented in an engaging, extensively documented nonfiction account in verse. Drawing heavily on Murray's autobiography, poems, and other writings, the book spans her entire life and identifies her influences as she became determined, from a young age in Jim Crow North Carolina, to learn and help others appreciate the true history of her people. She endured great hardships in order to graduate from Hunter College, but her efforts to get ahead were thwarted by the Great Depression. She began a lifelong passion for writing to newspapers and public figures about social issues, which she called "confrontation by typewriter," and was very successful at making those messages heard by people in power, including President Roosevelt. Later, at Howard University Law School, Murray was a strong proponent of overturning Plessy v. Ferguson because "separate could never be equal." In the later chapters, the authors acknowledge the limitations of language employed at the time, speculating that today "transgender / is possibly / what Pauli would call herself... Pauli's pronouns may have been / they/them/their." This is a compelling biography of an "unsung force"--an inspiring and transformative figure who broke barriers pivotal to both the civil rights and women's movements. Appended with photographs, authors' notes, a timeline, source notes, and a bibliography.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sian James. This story begins in 1934 Norman, Oklahoma, as a grandmother and her grandson are preparing to bake a birthday cake. When the boy shares his self-conscious worry ("I want to help, but my friends said only girls bake"), Grandma Dora launches into the story of "the world's first woman mayor," elected in 1887 Kansas. The cartoony illustrations evoke the Old West and feature a determined Susanna Madora Salter...who, her grandson (and readers) learns, is actually Grandma Dora. The fictional framing story is a bit awkward, and why Susanna was put on the ballot as a prank isn't clear. Nonetheless, this book brings to light an early and largely unknown example of women's rights and leadership, challenging preconceived notions about women's roles in American history.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Sonali Zohra. In this powerful verse novel, Latika loves school, but she knows that when she turns twelve she will be forced to quit. The reason? Toilets. In her rural Indian village there are no toilets; women and girls must relieve themselves in fields after dark to avoid "shame." As she approaches puberty, she wants to "stop time / to stay a little girl" so she can continue her education without the complication of menstruation. When an engineer from the city installs a water pump for the village, Latika breaks the taboo and tells him about how the issue affects women's health and girls' access to education. Latika gives voice to something unspeakable and risks censure, but her bravery forces change and lasting improvement. She no longer wishes to "bury the moon" for the light it shines onto a supposedly shameful act but learns instead to view its light as friendly and useful. Emotive illustrations throughout employ deep, rich black and blue hues with bold accents in pinks and purples, accentuating the moonlight. Short poems allow for a powerful exploration of a variety of social issues, all linked to access to toilets and yoking together contradictory elements (fragile but strong; fearful but brave). An appended author's note explains that toilet access is a global problem affecting over four billion people.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) YA Multiple legal, social, religious, and medical strands comprise the history of reproductive rights in America. Blumenthal, in her trademark straightforward journalistic style (Tommy: The Gun That Changed America, rev. 7/15; Bonnie and Clyde, rev. 1/19), creates a narrative that not only presents a comprehensible overview of the facts but also establishes the historical culture in which those facts existed. Blumenthal incorporates well-chosen case studies and numerous sidebars (each unfortunately titled a "Pregnant Pause")--such as charts reporting the historic trend of deaths related to abortion or the changing positions of major religious groups. These reveal the misogyny (until the midpoint of the twentieth century, unmarried women could not legally buy contraceptives); racism (women of color were often sterilized without their knowledge); and classism (overwhelmingly white, financially stable women were, and are, able to get abortions) that influenced the issue of unwanted pregnancies for a century and a half. In addition, she outlines the unexpected consequences, including social pressures, mass media coverage, and death, that some women faced when trying to obtain abortions before the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, as well as the limits that have been imposed on the law since the 1973 decision. Blumenthal's impeccable research is revealed in the extensive back matter (including documentation, a subject bibliography, a timeline, and a glossary) that completes this compelling book.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. Young Pari joins her mother on the library bus for the first time. The bus brings books to remote villages and refugee camps "beyond the mountains" of Kabul; Pari's mother also delivers school supplies and teaches English to the girls. Her mother explains that the camps and villages don't have schools--and that, until recently, Afghan girls weren't allowed to get an education. Rahman, who grew up in wartime Afghanistan, states that "all of the characters [in this fictional story] are inspired by the children that I met during my visits to refugee camps and orphanages in Kabul." The reassuring watercolor and digital illustrations help convey Rahman's assertion that "when you are born in war, you are truly unaware of the alternative, peace. War is your normal."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Velasquez's arresting jacket portrait of Ginsburg, superimposed on a facsimile of the U.S. Constitution, conveys a woman of purpose; Rappaport's biography, largely focused on Ginsburg's work for gender equality, reinforces this first impression. Despite societal inequalities between men and women in the 1950s, Ginsburg receives a full scholarship to Cornell and is then accepted to Harvard Law School. She graduates first in her class from Columbia Law (where she had transferred), but not a single law firm interviews her. She begins teaching at Rutgers with a salary less than those of her male counterparts and a legal barrier against claiming her student husband as a dependent. After joining several lawsuits addressing these issues, she successfully argues one such case before the Supreme Court. Rappaport's narrative scope includes Ginsburg's personal life, where her marriage mirrored her beliefs of shared and equal gender roles. Generous oil paintings place Ginsburg front and center except in illustrations relating to her marriage; there both husband and wife share the visual spotlight. Ginsburg's own words, stating both the inequalities she endured and her own convictions, conclude thus: "When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough women on the Court, and I respond when there are nine, people are shocked. But the Supreme Court has had nine men for ever so long, and nobody's ever raised a question about that." Appended with a timeline, notes from both author and illustrator, a brief bibliography, and source notes.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(3) K-3 Citizen Kid series. Illustrated by Marianne Ferrer. To honor his young daughter's memory, Sundar Paliwal proposes that his Indian village plants 111 trees for each baby girl born. He hopes this act will help change the deeply held belief that "a daughter was a burden..." and counter decades of environmental damage caused by mining. Changing people's minds takes effort and time, but Sundar persists and eventually sees his dream become reality. Accompanied by Ferrer's stylized illustrations in muted earth tones, Singh's approachable text conveys how one person's passion and commitment can have tremendous impact on their community. Five pages at the end of the book discuss in more detail Sundar's mission, gender inequality, the project's "extraordinary changes," and "eco-feminism."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) YA Keyser provides a broad but thorough introduction to the origins and implications of rape culture in America. She approaches this complex, controversial topic with authority and approachable language, using both academic and popular sources to build a case for dismantling systemic misogyny and violence. A first-rate resource for young researchers, activists, and news consumers alike. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) K-3 When Mary gets the daring idea to wear pants, she's met with angry adults for wearing "boy's clothes," but inside school she finds a classroom of girls also wearing pants--and happy smiles. Illustrations place the aspirational story based on Civil War surgeon and feminist Mary Walker's (1832–1919) life in a vaguely mid-nineteenth-century American setting; playful content, a riot of fabric patterns, and cheerful candy colors lend a modern sensibility.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Daria Peoples-Riley. This illustrated biography of Steinem provides a brief overview of her lifelong interest in personal freedom and her role in the women's liberation movement. Rinker deftly highlights Steinem's main agenda without overwhelming young readers with too much detail and background. The ink, gouache, and watercolor illustrations capture the essence of Steinem's time and place in the world. Author's and illustrator's notes appended. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA African American girl Jasmine is starting junior year at NYC's Amsterdam High with her (white) best friend Chelsea. Early in the school year, both girls are confronted with racism and sexism in their respective clubs. This leads to Jasmine and Chelsea starting their own club, Write like a Girl, which attracts both fans and trolls. Alternating narratives build a relatable, realistic, and inspiring story for teens.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery

(3) YA Twenty-one female YA authors offer personal essays about moments and life experiences that shaped their feminist worldview. The timely topics covered include the intersection of race and gender, sexual assault and rape, issues around weight and body image, and the experience of growing up a girl in an immigrant family. Engaging, emotional, and perfectly attuned to today's young women, this feminist collection promises to make an impact. Websites.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA Also written by Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandell. In first-person narratives by six female authors, each of Henry VIII's wives gives a retrospective account of the loves, flirtations, and political maneuverings that brought about the end of her time as Henry's queen. Between wives, Anderson offers Henry's perspective, musing on his loves and lusts; Anderson's sly rendering reveals the depths of the king's complacency and egotism.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker

(4) YA Women have no rights in Viridia. Nonetheless, Serina dreams of serving as a "Grace" (concubine) in the Superior's court. Her sister Nomi is unexpectedly chosen instead, and Serina is banished to an island, surrounded by violence, danger, and death. Chapters alternate between the sisters' perspectives as they dream of reuniting. Some underdeveloped characters and predictable plot twists blunt the novel's power.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: Movements That Matter series. These succinct and dynamic books cover the causes, key players, and evolution of each titular movement throughout the years. "A Moment in the Movement" boxes focus on relevant events that had an impact and add value to the narratives. Frequent photographs help break up the texts; there's just enough historical context to keep young readers engaged and informed. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: Movements That Matter titles: The Civil Rights Movement, The Gay Rights Movement, and The Women's Rights Movement.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello