Women In Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures

 Written by Karen Bush Gibson.  Published by Chicago Review Press, 2014, 234 Pages

                                                                      Reviewed by Theresa Harris

 

This book is listed in our local library as a Young Adult book, perhaps because of its simplicity; but it’s easily enjoyable by readers of all ages.   The actual writing itself is a little stilted, making it sometimes difficult to get into a smooth reader’s flow, but if you are interested in achievement of women, the essence will send you into orbit! 

Women In Space profiles 23 pioneers and provides terrific basics that will leave you wanting to know more.   Conveniently, the book also provides sidebars of additional information and suggests further reading with references including internet links.  The stories demonstrate the vital role women have played in the quest for scientific understanding and ignite a flame of interest in space programs for all readers. 

Divided into four sections: The Apollo 13 Women, Cosmonauts, American Astronauts, and World Astronauts, it includes Eileen Collins, born in Elmira, New York in 1956, graduated from Syracuse University in 1978, who became the first woman to command the space shuttle; Peggy Whitson, who logged more than a year in orbit aboard the International Space Station; and Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space; as well as astronauts from Japan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, France, and more. 

 

The book is filled with fact and also dotted with interesting anecdotes such as when the first African American female astronaut, Mae Jemison, who loved astronomy and science fiction stories as a girl told her kindergarten teacher she wanted to be a scientist, her teacher said, “You mean a nurse.” 

 

These women are “SHEroes”…the names and stories of whom we all should be familiar. 

 

I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book and be inspired and proud of women’s stories.  It will help you understand the reasons why Zonta International chooses to award (35) US$10,000 Fellowships annually to women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences, to be used at any university or college offering accredited post-graduate courses and degrees in these fields.

 

 

Nevertheless, She Wore It

Nevertheless, She Wore It, by Ann Shen

A review by Amy Quinn

Today is the book birthday of “Nevertheless, She Wore It” by author and illustrator Ann Shen and let me say, it is FANTASTIC. 

Shen’s newest book is phenomenal, timely and iconic! 50 different looks are featured, chronicling women’s style trends against culture and world history and it is truly fascinating. Did you know that when the bob hair style came into the early 20th century, young co-eds could be expelled from school for getting one, and that the Washington Post wrote an article in 1925 called “The Economic Impact of the Bob”? (There were only 5000 beauty parlors in 1920, but over 21,000 in 1925, once this hair style became popular.) 

Mary Tyler Moore wanted to wear capris and flats on The Dick Van Dyke Show...because that's what women were really wearing at home.... but she had to alternate her capris with looser fitting pants in various scenes because network executives were concerned about the “cupping under” of her form-fitting capris, and wanted to go easy on viewers as they became used to seeing her behind.  

TV executives didn’t like belly buttons either, and though Jeannie, Ginger and Mary Ann dared not bare theirs, Cher (and the women on Star Trek) braved the frontier, defying the Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters that was in place until NINETEEN EIGHTY-THREE.  #what

With sharp illustrations that capture every look from du-rags to denim shorts to dissent collars, you'll want to grab this book for anyone who loves culture, history and fashion. It would make a great gift, but you should probably just go ahead and gift yourself one, too. I did.  

Thanks to #netgalley for letting me have an advance reader's copy of this great book with the BEST title! It was a joy to read! 

$22.50 UDS at Target

At The Dark End of the Street

At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power 

by Danielle L. McGuire, 2010, 324 pages, paperback.

 Selected and reviewed by Joanne Shawhan

A history of America's civil rights movement traces the pivotal influence of sexual violence that victimized African American women for centuries, revealing Rosa Parks' contributions as an anti-rape activist, years before her heroic bus protest.

Celebrate 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage with this collection of books

 

A MIGHTY GIRL says:   "For children today, it's hard to imagine a time when women couldn't vote; realizing that they've had that right for under 100 years is astounding. It's equally shocking when they learn that women had to fight for 72 years before the 19th Amendment — which stated that no citizen could be denied the right to vote on account of sex — became law. So it's imperative that we teach today's children about the struggle for women's suffrage, not just to honor the dedication and sacrifices of the women who led the Women's Suffrage Movement, but also to ensure that future generations don't take the right to vote for granted."

This month, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the US 19th amendment with  books and films about women's suffrage in the United States: the history of the movement, the women who led it forward, and the tremendous challenges that they faced in their quest to ensure that women's voices could be heard at the ballot box. These stories will both educate kids about a critical period in women's history and inspire them to see the power of determined activists and political leaders to make big changes in the world.

Search the web for books about suffrage in both the US and around the world, as well as voting rights during the Civil Rights Movement.  Some are pictured above. Share a book with a girl today!  Happy reading!

The Indigo Girl

The Indigo Girl, by Natasha Boyd.  

Historical fiction set in South Carolina during 1739, Recommended by Irene Orton.

"A wonderful summer read, especially in these turbulent times!

Enjoy, and please keep sharing as we advocate for women everywhere! ~ Irene" 

"The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family’s three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England. Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes it’s the key to their salvation. But everyone tells her it’s impossible, and no one will share the secret to making it. Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal: teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return—against the laws of the day—she will teach the slaves to read.

So begins an incredible story of love, dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

Based on historical documents, including Eliza’s letters, this is a historical fiction account of how a teenage girl produced indigo dye, which became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina, an export that laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families who still live on today. Although largely overlooked by historians, the accomplishments of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history. When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

This book is set between 1739 and 1744, with romance, intrigue, forbidden friendships, and political and financial threats weaving together to form the story of a remarkable young woman whose actions were before their time: the story of the indigo girl."     Natasha Boyd is a Goodreads Author  

The Boston Girl

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, 

2015, 336 pages, paperback.

A review by Joanne Shawhan, Zonta Club of Albany 

In this novel, Diamant describes family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century. 

Addie Baum is The Boston Girl, born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Eighty-five-year-old Addie tells the story of her life to her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, who has asked her "How did you get to be the woman you are today?" 

She begins in 1915, the year she found her voice and made friends who would help shape the course of her life. 

The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman's complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world.

Long Bright River, by Liz Moore

Long Bright River by Liz Moore, 2020, 496 pages, hardback.

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. 

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

Written by guest reviewer, Joanne Shawhan

The Testaments

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, 2019, fiction, 419 pages, hardback.

Reviewed by Joanne Shawhan

In the sequel, to Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood returns to Gilead, 15 years after the Handmaid called Offred recorded her indelible experiences. Readers will again enter a dystopia of eerie orderliness as women under ruthless surveillance, their social status indicated by cumbersome, color-coded uniforms, are forced into dehumanizing rituals of sex and punishment.

One key character returns, the formidable Aunt Lydia. But in this very different novel, three women tell their stories, the lens widens so that Gilead is seen from the outside, and the focus is not only on men oppressing women, but also on women wielding power. Particularly powerful is the description of how Aunt Lydia went from prisoner to collaborator and active participant in the early days of Gilead. The result is a shrewdly suspenseful tale of survival and resistance.