2015 Amelia Bloomer Project List

February 11, 2015February 9, 2015 | Tasha

The 2015 Amelia Bloomer Project List has been announced. It is part of the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table. There are over 40 titles on the main list and then the list also has a Top Ten. Here are the titles in the Top Ten:

Because I Am a Girl: I Can Change the World by Rosemary McCarney

Every Day Is Malala Day by Rosemary McCarney

Hidden by Donna Jo Napoli

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai

Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

My Notorious Life by Kate Manning

A Pair of Twins by Kavitha Mandana, illustrated by Nayantara Surendranath

Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr

Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince

A Woman in the House (and Senate): How Women Came to the United States Congress, Broke Down Barriers, and Changed the Country by Ilene Cooper, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley

Review: Audacity by Melanie Crowder

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 | Tasha

Audacity by Melanie Crowder

Told in masterful verse, this is the story of real-life heroine Clara Lemlich who led the largest strike by women in the history of the United States. Born in Russia, Clara was forbidden any education because her devout Jewish father did not approve. When her family emigrated to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, Clara was required to go to work to support her family while her father and brothers dedicated their lives to prayer. Clara got work in the garment industry, discovering horrific working conditions and refusing to just accept them. Clara worked to get women workers taken seriously by the male-driven unions and for their plight to be incorporated into union strikes and negotiations. Along the way, she also used the public library and free classes to teach herself English. Anyone wondering if one person can truly make a difference in a larger world has only to read this book to be inspired to action.

Crowder’s poetry here is completely amazing. From one page to the next, she captures the incredible spirit of this young woman and her desire to educate herself. When she finds something to fight for, she is unstoppable, fearless and unbeatable. Crowder also ties Clara to nature, even in among the tenement buildings of New York City. She is a small hawk, a flower in the concrete, she herself is the force of nature in the city.

Just the descriptions of the horrific beatings that Clara withstood on the streets and the picket lines would make most people quit. But Crowder makes sure to depict Clara as a person first and a hero second. It makes what she did so much more amazing but also encourages everyone to realize that they too have this within them if they are willing to take on the fight. This woman was a heroine in such a profound way, unsupported by her family and willing to use all of her free time to make a difference, she is exactly what the modern world needs to have us make change now.

Strong, beautiful and wonderfully defiant, this book is an incredible testament to the power of one woman to change the world. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Philomel.

Review: Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A. S. King

November 10, 2014October 31, 2014 | Tasha

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A. S. King

Glory can’t see a future for herself. She has no plans once she graduates from high school, not applying to any colleges. Perhaps she is just like her dead mother, who committed suicide four years ago. It’s the reason that Glory has only eaten microwaved food years, since her father won’t replace the oven her mother used to kill herself. Glory can’t even seem to get along with her best friend who lives across the road in a commune. It was there that they found the desiccated bat that they mixed with water and drank. It was a decision that changed Glory’s life because now when she looks at other people she can see their future, and it’s a future that is filled with civil war, hate of women, and horror. As Glory sees everyone’s future but her own, she starts to slowly explore the family secrets that surround her and even her own way forward.

King is amazing. While the cover may compare her to John Green, she is has a voice that is entirely unique and her own. King has created here a book that mixes photography with philosophy. Glory speaks the language of film, pre-digital and more physical and tangible. She uses light meters and ties the numbers she uses directly to her life: “By shooting the darkest areas three zones lighter, you turned a black, lifeless max black zone 0 into a zone 3. I think, in life, most of us did this all the time.” King also embraces a fierce and beautiful feminism in this book. It’s the feminism that we all viscerally crave, one that speaks to the power of girls and women, a feminism that can save us from ovens.

Glory is such a strong character. I love that she is cool and real, and yet she feels that she is the most awkward, unsexy and unreal person in the world. That is such a teen feeling, a feeling of hiding and being masked and fake. King captures it beautifully. Glory grows throughout the book, emerging from behind all of the barriers that she has set up for others before they can meet who she really is. The problem is that she is also hiding from herself.

Strong, beautiful, feminist and fierce, this book is one inspiring read for all of us who hide and need to be found by ourselves. Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

2014 Amelia Bloomer List

February 10, 2014February 10, 2014 | Tasha

The Amelia Bloomer List recommends feminist literature for children and teens aged birth through 18 years old. It is part of the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table.

They also named a top ten: