Revew: 'Women Heroes of the American Revolution' by Susan Casey

Women Heroes of the American Revolution: 20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue by Susan Casey, 2015, Chicago Review Press, $19.95, hardbound, 226 pages. Cover: not bad. Category/Genre: history. Where we got it: publisher. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

This is a good book if you like history. It's put together from diaries, journals, letters, historians, writers of the time, and accounts by soldiers or families; some of the letters and other documents are included in the book along with Casey's narrative.

It isn't entirely clear whether all the stories are true or not – Casey says that separating fact from fiction or exaggeration was one of the hardest parts about writing the book – but she does tell you if the story is in question, and she offers information at the end of each tale as to where to go if you want to learn more.

There are some interesting stories in here: that of Phillis Wheatley, a slave who published a book of her own poetry that was about and for America; Lydia Darragh's spy ring (although her husband and sons played as big a role as she did); and Grace and Rachel Martin, who prevented papers from being delivered to British officers by pretending to be militiamen, are a few.

This book is part of the Women of Action series, a biography series that 'introduces young adults to women and girls of courage and conviction throughout the ages.'

 

If you like this one, try: Behind Every Great Man, by Marlene Wagman-Geller.


Susan Casey is an author, teacher, public speaker, and journalist. You can find out more about her and her books at: www.susancaseybooks.com. She has two Facebook pages for her books: Kids Inventing! and Women Invent!

Review: 'Almost Astronauts' by Tanya Lee Stone

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone, 2009, Candlewick Press, $24.99, hardbound, 133 pages. Cover: pretty cool. Category/Genre: reference/history. Where we got it: borrowed it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

This is the true and inspiring story of the Mercury 13 women, who were the first women ever to be trained as astronauts.

Without Randolph Lovelace, the doctor who put the Mercury 7 men through their testing, this likely would not have happened, at least not for a while. But Lovelace believed women are as capable as men, and he had a desire to prove it.

The first was Jerrie Cobb, a pilot who'd broken world records; she fared so well in the testing that it was thought she'd not only do well in space, she would excell there. After her came 18 other women, all pilots and go-getters, all fit. Including Cobb, 13 of the women passed the tests with flying colors.

In this book, you'll learn about some of the grueling tests all astronauts go through, and you'll learn how it was particularly hard for these women – not because they were weaker, but because of the negativity they had to face. One of them was filed divorce papers after testing, and another's boss demoted her.

If you want to read about real bravery and perseverence, try this book.

If you like this one, try: Women of the Wind: Early Women Aviators, by Wanda Langley.

For more about Tanya Lee Stone and her many books, check out her website at: http://www.tanyastone.com/. She writes non-fiction (often about women or African-Americans), teen fiction, and picture books. 

You can follow Tanya Lee Stone at: https://twitter.com/tanyaleestone or Like her on Facebook. 

You can buy Tanya's books via her website, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Books-A-Million.

Review: 'Women of the Wind' by Wanda Langley

Women of the Wind: Early Women Aviators by Wanda Langley, 2006, Morgan Reynolds Publishing, $26.95, hardbound, 160 pages. Cover: good. Category/Genre: Reference/History. Where we got it: borrowed it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Between the historic first flights of Orville and Wilbur Wright and the breaking of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager, there were many pilots willing to risk their lives flying the rickety, open-cockpit planes of the time. Some of those pilots were women; this book reveals the stories of nine of those women, some of whom set more than one record, some of whom died in flight, and all of whom serve as an inspiration, not only to women and young girls, but to the men and young boys who are interested in aviation.

Naturally, Amelia Earhart is in this book; but here you'll also find Harriet Quimby, the first woman to receive her pilot's license in the U.S.; Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to fly a plane; Ruth Nichols, who used aviation to help people; and others.

Black-and-white photographs accompany the text, and each aviator gets her own timeline. 

If you like this one, try: Almost Astronauts, by Tanya Lee Stone.

Find Wanda Langley's books on Goodreads and PaperBack Swap; there's also a biography on Encyclopedia.com.