Valuable for nods to some lesser-known luminaries but clumsy to a fault.
Profiles of modern women who stood up, sat down, defied powers that be, worked or are working for peace, or otherwise merit consideration as role models.
The authors open with a poorly reasoned and written introduction positing that the book’s title is accurate because “fearless” means the same thing as “courageous” and declaring that their selected figures “heralded from the four corners of the world.” Following this, single-page profiles arranged in no readily apparent order present the achievements of 36 notable women beginning with Rosa Parks, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Malala Yousafzai. Some of the choices are fixtures in the feminist firmament, but there are others who are not universally beloved (Margaret Thatcher, Winnie Mandela). Many will likely be new to the target audience, such as Brazilian graffiti artist and social activist Panmela Castro, for instance, or Indian warrior queen Lakshmibai (listed, rather insensitively considering the context, not under her name but as Maharani of Jhansi, which translates “Maharaja’s widow”). The large portrait photos opposite each entry have been colorized or otherwise processed into a paint-by-numbers look. A few more women get brief mention at the end, but there are no source notes or leads to further information. Companion volume Unsung Heroes highlights both male and female luminaries, most of whom (Henrietta Lacks, Omkar Nath Sharma, Harvey Milk, for instance) will be unfamiliar to the audience.
Valuable for nods to some lesser-known luminaries but clumsy to a fault. (index) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7641-6886-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
Generous swathes of inspiration, albeit over a foundation that seems shifty next to more-authoritative sources such as Ruth...
Heartfelt tributes to over 200 women, from Sappho to Hillary Clinton, who made—or are making—history.
Not everyone here, as the subtitle has it, “Got There First,” but all are notable for contributions to knowledge or culture, for feats of arms or athletics, and for breaking through gender barriers. Doyle arranges entries in chronological order within four broad categories, which results in a stimulating mix of bedfellows: early Somalian queen Arawelo, followed by Boudicca and then Chinese emperor Wu Zetian in “Politics and World-Building,” for example; and Mary Leakey, Hedy Lamarr, and Sylvia Zipser Schur (“Inventor of the Corn-Dog-On-A-Stick”) in “Science and Invention.” Her profiles often include frank references to suicide (Virginia Woolf) or drug addiction (Billie Holiday), but the author also indulges in questionable claims (“Insects are usually classified by the male of the species”). Furthermore, along with turning “feminist icon” into practically a mantra, she’s not beyond the occasional rhetorical tailspin: “Janis Joplin remains a bastion of blues and rock.” More problematically, she cites no sources beyond the articles from commercial magazines and sites stuffed into an indigestible bibliography. The illustrations are an unsystematic scramble of portraits, caricatures, and filler.
Generous swathes of inspiration, albeit over a foundation that seems shifty next to more-authoritative sources such as Ruth Ashby and Deborah Gore Ohrn’s Herstory (1995). (index) (Collective biography. 11-13)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77085-770-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Firefly
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf