I Want To Live: The Diary of a Young Girl in Stalin's Russia

I Want To Live: The Diary of a Young Girl in Stalin's Russia

Written by: Nina Lugovskaya

"Recently unearthed in the archives of Stalin’s secret police, the NKVD, Nina Lugovskaya’s diary offers rare insight into the life of a teenage girl in Stalin’s Russia—when fear of arrest was a fact of daily life. Like Anne Frank, thirteen-year-old Nina is conscious of the extraordinary dangers around her and her family, yet she is preoccupied by ordinary teenage concerns: boys, parties, her appearance, who she wants to be when she grows up. As Nina records her most personal emotions and observations, her reflections shape a diary that is as much a portrait of her intense inner world as it is the Soviet outer one."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://womenineuropeanhistory.org/index.php?title=Critical_Biography

Me, Frida

Me, Frida

Written by: Amy Novesky
Illustrated by: David Diaz

**2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book**

"This picture book focuses on the year that Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, spent in San Francisco while he worked on murals for the Pacific Stock Exchange. It was 1930 and Frida was young, newly married, and just beginning her own career as a painter. She had never been out of Mexico and everything about this trip was new and overwhelming. Novesky adeptly tells how Kahlo began to gain her confidence and find her place in the world, using the city and its surroundings as inspiration for her own work. The writing is succinct and careful, and a portrait of Frida as a strong, feisty woman comes through clearly. Diaz's acrylic and charcoal paintings echo Kahlo's own folkloric style, brimming with color and detail, but are unique as well, providing a rich complement to the text."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/index.html

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Written by: Walter Dean Myers
Illustrated by: Bonnie Christensen

Easy Readability

"Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives of African Americans.

An activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and pioneering voice against the horror of lynching, she used fierce determination and the power of the pen to educate the world about the unequal treatment of blacks in the United States. Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of this legendary figure, which blends harmoniously with the historically detailed watercolor paintings of illustrator Bonnie Christensen."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit17/lesson4.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/african-american-journalist-wells-20660.html#websites

Our County's First Ladies

Our Country's First Ladies

Written by: Ann Bausum

"Step inside the White House and meet the women who have played the roles of partners, confidantes, hostesses, and activists in the midst of American history. Read of fascinating lives led by the wives (and sometimes daughters, nieces, and friends) of our country's leaders. Ann Bausum introduces us to a private side of each First Lady, and connects each personality with the public persona to produce a book of uniquely revealing portraits.

Each profile is accompanied by a full-page portrait and a Fact Box detailing information such as education, special interests, and children. Timelines set each tenure in the context of the course of women's history, and a Facts-at-a-Glance section is a valuable resource for trivia lovers and report writers alike.

The narrative comes alive through the multi-faceted natures of the First Ladies: the legend of Dolley Madison's rescue of White House treasures in the war of 1812 crackles with drama; the description of Julia Grant's 29-course White House dinner will give you indigestion; the account of Eleanor Roosevelt's tireless public service and activism is awe-inspiring. Hers is one of many stories of First Ladies who embraced causes to make a difference: Lady Bird Johnson campaigned for the beautification of American cities and highways; Hillary Clinton championed the rights of children; while the librarian Laura Bush has been a tireless advocate of literacy."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.firstladies.org/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies

Patience Wright: America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy

Patience Wright: America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy

Written by: Pegi Deitz Shea
Illustrated by: Bethanne Andersen

Easy Readability

"Born in 1725 in the American colonies, Patience Wright discovered her talent for art at an early age. As an adult, she joined her sister in a wax-sculpting business and later moved on her own to England. There, Patience became a spy for the colonies, hiding messages in the sculpted busts she sent to her sister's waxworks in America. Here is the story of a woman who lived an extraordinary life, full of art and intrigue."

Publishers Synopsis

Online Resources:
http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2009/01/patience-lovell-wright.html
http://bordentownhistory.org/Current_Exhibits/PatielceWright/index.html

Jeanette Rankin: Political Pioneer

Jeanette Rankin: Political Pioneer

Written by: Gretchen Woelfle

"By any measure, Jeannette Rankin was a woman ahead of her time. She was Montana's representative in Congress before women in other states even had the right to vote. Woelfle does a terrific job introducing Rankin, beginning an attention-grabbing story in which an elderly Rankin, a lifelong pacifist, leads an antiwar protest during the 1970s. Woelfle then moves back in time, restarting the story with an anecdote about young Jeannette sewing up an injured horse on her father's ranch. Readers' interest level will stay high throughout as Rankin finds satisfaction in working as a social worker and then discovers her calling as a crusader for women's rights.

Even during her two short tenures in Congress, Rankin never abandoned her core beliefs; she voted against both World War I and II declarations of war (in the case of the latter, standing alone). The high standard of writing is matched by the book's format. Informative sidebars are well integrated, and from the intense portrait on the cover to the well-chosen photos and historical material, the volume offers interesting things to look at on every page. A time line, a bibliography, and source notes bolster this robust introduction to a fascinating figure."

Booklist Starred Review

Online Resources:
http://www.gretchenwoelfle.com/jeannette_rankin__political_pioneer_60457.htm

Gold Rush Women

Gold Rush Women

Written by: Claire Rudolf Murphy

"The women who joined the gold rushes in the Yukon and Alaska between the late 1880s and the early 1900s get scant attention in the history books. This collective biography draws on primary sources to tell their stories, with fascinating historical photographs and portraits on every page. Some women went with men, some went alone. They panned for gold, ran boardinghouses and grub tents, worked as dance-hall girls and prostitutes. Ethel Berry was one of the first Klondike millionaires. Klondike Kate, a Tagish native, never got any money from the gold she helped discover. One whole section is devoted to the important roles played by Native American women in the region. Martha Louise Block, a wealthy Chicago matron, said of her adventure: "What I wanted was not shelter and safety, but liberty and opportunity." Lots of sidebars provide general information, including one newspaper article telling women what to pack and what to leave behind. With its handsome, browsable design, this will be welcome for classroom reports and for personal reading."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://www.goldrush.com/~joann/
http://www.sierrafoothillmagazine.com/women.html
http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/gold/women.html
http://www.clairerudolfmurphy.com/Gold_Rush_Women.html

Those Remarkable Women of the American Revolution

Those Remarkable Women of the American Revolution

Written by: Karen Zeinert

"Zeinert chronicles the many contributions made by women during the Revolutionary War. She describes the role of both patriots and loyalists; black and Indian women; Northern women as well as those on Southern plantations, showing how the war forced them to assume nontraditional roles, such as protecting the homefront and taking on men's duties like farming and keeping the books."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/women_american_revolution/
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html

Ann Richards: Politican, Feminist, Survivor

Ann Richards: Politician, Feminist, Survivor

Written by: Dorothy S. Siegel

"In this biography, Siegel describes the various life experiences, influences, and highlights of Richards's career, emphasizing her talent for entertaining oratory. The 10 short chapters, clearly reproduced black-and-white photos, and many apt quotations from Richards herself will enlighten students about this woman's personality and character. The author maintains objectivity throughout, carefully and truthfully discussing Richards' alcohol addiction, her family's reaction to the problem, and the treatment she received."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/governors/modern/page3.html
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6031278746031366791#

Where the Broken Heart Still Beats

Where the Broken Heart Still Beats

Written by: Carolyn Meyer

"This book describes the clash between American and Native American cultures in Texas as occurred in the life of Cynthia Ann Parker. Captured from Fort Parker, Cynthia married a Comanche and bore several children prior to her return to white society. She pined away for her Comanche family, which she never saw again. When her daughter died, Cynthia lost the will to live. Students can compare Cynthia Ann Parker’s life to that of her son Quanah’s."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/cynthia-parker/
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/PP/fpa18.html

Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium

Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium

Written by: Carla Killough McClafferty

"Marie Curie's story has fascinated and inspired young readers for decades. The poor Polish girl who worked eight years to save for tuition at the Sorbonne in Paris became one of the most important scientists of her day, winning not one but two Nobel Prizes. Her life is a fascinating one, filled with hard work, humanitarianism, and tragedy. Her work with her husband, Pierre (the study of radioactivity and the discovery of the elements radium and polonium) changed science forever. But she is less well known for her selfless efforts during World War I to establish mobile X-ray units so that wounded French soldiers could get better care faster.

When she stood to profit greatly from her scientific work, she chose not to, making her methods and findings known and available to all of science. As a result, this famous woman spent most of her life in need of money, often to buy the very elements she discovered. In this new biography, Marie Curie's life and work are given a fresh telling, one that also explores the larger picture of the effects of radium in world culture, and its exploitation and sad misuse."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/articles/curie/

Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia

Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia

Written by: D. Anne Love
Illustrated by: Pam Paparone

"The daughter of mathematician Theon, Hypatia grew up on the northern tip of Egypt in the great city of Alexandria in the 4th century A.D. Unlike most girls of her time, Hypatia learned to read and write, and as she grew older was tutored in mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. In time, word spread of her brilliance and scholars from all over the world came to her seeking her advice and opinions in these subjects. Records of her fame as a teacher can be found in the writings of Socrates. One of her most famous students, Synesius, developed the astrolabe under her direction."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/hypatia.htm
http://www.philosophyslam.org/10_21.html

Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning

Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning

Written by: Laurence Anholt
Illustrated by: Shelia Moxley

"Mary Anning, born in England in 1799, made an astounding discovery at age 12 when she unearthed the first full skeleton of a giant ichthyosaur in the cliffs above her home in Lyme Regis. This incident — in which she was helped by a little dog she rescued from a cemetery — was the beginning of a long career that saw Mary become the world's best-known fossil hunter. Best-selling author Laurence Anholt turns Mary's fascinating life into a perfect read-aloud, while Sheila Moxley's luscious pictures vividly evoke the coastal setting and dramas of Mary's exciting life."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/anning.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mary-anning-paleontology

Rosa

Rosa

Written by: Nikki Giovanni
Illustrated by: Bryan Collier

"Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed.

Award-winning poet, writer, and activist Nikki Giovanni’s evocative text combines with Bryan Collier’s striking cut-paper images to retell the story of this historic event from a wholly unique and original perspective."

Publishers Synopsis

Online Resources:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/bookfairs/currconnection/rosa.htm
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/video.jsp?pID=1640149541&bcpid=1640149541&bclid=1557820329&bctid=1688353958

Anastasia's Album

Anastasia's Album

Written by: Hugh Brewster

"It would be difficult to find a more engaging portrait of the Romanovs. Black-and-white photographs from family albums are complemented by exquisite contemporary photographs of restored palaces. In addition, there is an articulate text and a generous use of quotes from letters and diaries written by family members or their close friends. The focus is on the youngest daughter and her story. Although a few references are made to historical events and the hardships of the Russian people during the first two decades of the 20th century, the book concentrates on presenting an intimate portrait of the last ruling family of the aristocracy."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/dynasty/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Anastasia_Nikolaevna_of_Russia