THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AMAZING WOMEN IN HISTORY

Taking a chronological and historical approach, this entry in an ongoing series (The New York Public Library Amazing African American History, 1998, etc.) makes use of a question and answer format to respond to questions that students might be asked in class, or ask for themselves, about historical figures. The text is very clear and gratifyingly lively: Marginalia and boxed highlights expand upon or add to the Q&A material. Heinemann takes pains to include as much information as possible on Native American, African-American, Latina, and Asian women. She is careful about names, giving variants of first names and married names whenever possible, and doesn't shrink from straightforward explanations of complex issues, e.g., noting that even Quaker feminist Lucretia Mott thought women demanding the right to vote was too radical. She includes famous women such as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and far less famous ones like Nanye-hi (Nancy Ward), a Cherokee elder and leader who led her people to victory and who negotiated peace agreements with white settlers in 1755. It's a volume that is destined to be useful, enlightening, and even empowering. (bibliography, index, not seen, glossary, b&w photos) (Nonfiction. 10-14)