Amelia Bloomer List: 2010.
In honor of Women's History Month; Feminist Books for young Readers:
Here are the books that we have in the Lancaster County Public Library System (descriptions from the OPAC):
Younger ReadersFiction
A Book, by Mordicai Gerstein. Illus. by the author. (K–Gr. 3).
"Once in a book by Mordecai Gerstein ... there lived a family of characters." This is the tale of one little girl's search for her own story.
Imogene’s Last Stand, by Candace Fleming. Illus. by Nancy Carpenter. (K–Gr. 2).
Enamored of history, young Imogene Tripp tries to save her town's historical society from being demolished in order to build a shoelace factory. Includes notes about historical figures quoted in the story.
Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken, by Kate DiCamillo. Illus. by Harry Bliss. (PreS–Gr. 2).
Longing for adventure, intrepid Louise leaves her comfortable nest and goes to sea.
Sparrow Girl, by Sara Pennypacker. Illus. by Yoko Tanaka. (K–Gr. 3).
When China's leader declares a war on sparrows, Ming-Li cannot think of the sky without birds in it, and while her countrymen are killing the birds, she and her brother try to save as many as they can.
Tough Chicks. By Cece Meng. Illus. by Melissa Suber. (PreS–Gr. 2).
Three independent chicks who dare to be different are reprimanded by the other barnyard residents for not being quiet and docile, until the smart, fearless trio takes on a runaway tractor.
NonfictionAmelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator, by Shelley Tanaka. Illus. by David Craig. (Gr. 1–4).
On July 2, 1937, aviatrix Amelia Earhart mysteriously vanished. This biography follows Earhart from her first sight of an airplane at the age of 10 to the last radio transmission she made before she disappeared. Illustrated with original artworks and contemporary photos.
Eleanor, Quiet No More, by Doreen Rappaport. Illus. by Gary Kelley. (Gr. 2–5).
A biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, the most socially and politically active -- and controversial -- First Lady America had ever seen. Ambassador, activist, and champion of civil rights, Eleanor Roosevelt changed the soul of America forever. Includes selected quotes from Eleanor's own writings.
Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way to Fame, Fortune, and Swimsuit History, by Shana Corey. Illus. by Edwin Fotheringham. (Gr. 2–5). As a child growing up in Australia, AnnetteKellerman was a frail ugly duckling who dreamedof becoming a graceful ballerina. With pluck andcourage, she confronted a crippling illness andcountless naysayers to become an internationallyknown record-setting athlete who revolutionizedthe sport of swimming for women, a moviestar who invented water ballet, and a fashionrevolutionary who modernized the swimsuit. Wow,thanks, Annette!
Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter. Illus. by the author. (Gr. 2–4).
Based on a true story. After her parents are taken away by the Taliban, young Nasreen stops speaking. But as she spends time in a secret school, she slowly breaks out of her shell.
Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee, by Marissa Moss. Illus. by Carl Angel. (Gr. 1–4).
Acclaimed author Moss tells the story of Maggie Gee, from her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area to becoming one of only two Chinese American Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) to serve during World War II. Full color.
Middle Readers
Fiction
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, by Nancy Springer. (Gr. 4–7).
In late nineteenth-century London, fourteen-year-old Enola Holmes, much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, turns to Florence Nightingale for help when her investigation into the disappearance of a Crimean War widow grows cold.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. (Gr. 4–7). In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies, by Mick Cochrane. (Gr. 5–8).
Eighth-grader Molly's ability to throw a knuckleball earns her a spot on the baseball team, which not only helps her feel connected to her recently deceased father, who loved baseball, it helps in other aspects of her life, as well.
Rapunzel’s Revenge, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. Illus. by Nathan Hale. (Gr. 5–8).
Rapunzel is raised in a grand villa surrounded by towering walls. Rapunzel dreams of a different mother than Gothel, the woman she calls Mother. She climbs over the wall and finds out the truth. Her real mother, Kate, is a slave in Gothel's gold mine. In this Old West retelling, Rapunzel uses her hair as a lasso and to take on outlaws--including Gothel.
The Shepherd’s Granddaughter, by Anne Laurel Carter. (Gr. 5–8).
Amani longs to be a shepherd like her grandfather, Seedo. Like many Palestinians, her family has grazed sheep above the olive groves of the family homestead for generations, and she has been steeped in Seedo's stories, especially one about a secret meadow called the Firdoos--and the wolf that once showed him the path there.
NonfictionAlmost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, by Tanya Lee Stone. illus. (Gr. 5–8).
Presents the story of the thirteen women connected with NASA's Mercury 13 space mission, who braved prejudice and jealousy to make their mark and open the door for the female pilots and space commanders that would soon follow.
Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly, by Sue Macy. illus. (Gr. 5–8).
The life story of this daring news reporter, globetrotter, and advocate for women's rights is presented chronologically from birth to death.
Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose. illus. (Gr. 6–up). Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.
I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, by Anita Silvey. (Gr. 5–8).
Sarah Emma Edmonds enlisted because she believed in the Union cause; Melverina Peppercorn joined to stay near her twin brother. Although women were not allowed to enlist as soldiers in the Civil War, many disguised themselves as men and fought anyway.
Young AdultFictionBecause I Am Furniture, by Thalia Chaltas. (Gr. 9–12). The youngest of three siblings, fourteen-year-old Anke feels both relieved and neglected that her father abuses her brother and sister but ignores her, but when she catches him with one of her friends, she finally becomes angry enough to take action.
Bloodhound, by Tamora Pierce. (Gr. 7–up).
Having been promoted from "Puppy" to "Dog," Beka, now a full-fledged member of the Provost's Guard, and her former partner head to a neighboring port city to investigate a case of counterfeit coins.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, v.3: Wolves at the Gate. By Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon. Illus. by Georges Jeanty and Jo Chen. (Gr. 9–up).
Vampires that, at will, can transform into wolves, panthers, insects, or fog invade the Slayer base of operations in northern Scotland, and not only walk away unscathed, but in possession of Buffy's scythe, the symbol of Slayer power worldwide. Buffy and the Slayer-legion travel to Tokyo in order to learn more about their dangerous new foes, as Xander journeys to Transylvania to solicit the only person they've ever known to possess such power - Dracula!
The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams. (Gr. 8–up). In a polygamous cult in the desert, Kyra, not yet fourteen, sees being chosen to be the seventh wife of her uncle as just punishment for having read books and kissed a boy, in violation of Prophet Childs' teachings, and is torn between facing her fate and running away from all that she knows and loves.
Crossing Stones, by Helen Frost. (Gr. 6–10).
In their own voices, four young people, Muriel, Frank, Emma, and Ollie, tell of their experiences during the first World War, as the boys enlist and are sent overseas, Emma finishes school, and Muriel fights for peace and women's suffrage.
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, by Alison Goodman. (Gr. 8–up). Sixteen-year-old Eon hopes to become an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune and learn to be its main interpreter, but to do so will require much, including keeping secret that she is a girl.
Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith. (Gr. 6–10). During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. (Adult). Limited and persecuted by racial divides in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, three women, including an African-American maid, her sassy and chronically unemployed friend, and a recently graduated white woman, team up for a clandestine project.
In a Gilded Cage, by Rhys Bowen. (Adult) Irish-born detective and Vasser graduate Molly Murphy is hired to find out the truth about her friend's missionary parents' deaths and her loss of inheritance. Another Vasser grad has a philandering husband to track. Set in early 20th-century New York City.
Mare’s War, by Tanita S. Davis. (Gr. 7–10). Teens Octavia and Tali learn about strength, independence, and courage when they are forced to take a car trip with their grandmother, who tells about growing up Black in 1940s Alabama and serving in Europe during World War II as a member of the Women's Army Corps.
The Orange Houses, by Paul Griffin. (Gr. 10–12).
Tamika, a fifteen-year-old hearing-impaired girl, Jimmi, an eighteen-year-old veteran who stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication, and sixteen-year-old Fatima, an illegal immigrant from Africa, meet and connect in their Bronx, New York, neighborhood, with devastating results.
Secret Keeper, by Mitali Perkins. (Gr. 7–10).
In 1974 when her father leaves New Delhi, India, to seek a job in New York, Ashi, a tomboy at the advanced age of sixteen, feels thwarted in the home of her extended family in Calcutta where she, her mother, and sister must stay, and when her father dies before he can send for them, they must remain with their relatives and observe the old-fashioned traditions that Ashi hates.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley. (Adult) Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is propelled into a mystery when a man is found murdered on the grounds of her family's decaying English mansion and Flavia's father becomes the main suspect.
This Full House, by Virginia Euwer Wolff. (Gr. 8–12).
High-school-senior LaVaughn's perceptions and expectations of her life begin to change as she learns about the many unexpected connections between the people she loves best.
Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson. (Gr. 9–12). Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from bulemia as she struggles with anorexia.
Zoe’s Tale, by John Scalzi. (Adult)
Zoë Boutin-Perry travels to the fledgling colony world of Roanoke with her adoptive parents, John Perry and Jane Sagan, who have accepted positions as administrators. When her biological father develops the technology to give the Obin consciousness and self-awareness, she suddenly becomes the center of a critical but endangered treaty between the Obin and the Colonial Union.
The Road of Lost Innocence, by Somaly Mam. (Adult) A riveting, raw, and beautiful memoir of tragedy and hope Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelve years old. For the next decade she was shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. Trapped in this dangerous and desperate world, she suffered the brutality and horrors of human trafficking—rape, torture, deprivation—until she managed to escape with the help of a French aid...
Women Making America, by Heidi Hemming and Julie Hemming Savage. illus. This hefty volume surveys the role of women in American history from 1770 to the present, focusing primarily on health issues, paid work, home, education, beauty, amusements, and the arts. Each chapter includes a brief summary of historical events and then examines the common threads.
