With persistence, girls changed the world
Not everyone is cut out for a life of sod busting, covered wagons and fearsome weather — but there’s more than one kind of pioneer. A collection of inspiring new books highlights some of the different ways women and girls have traveled through uncharted territory, and how their pioneering work has changed the world.
“There Goes Patti McGee!” by Tootie Nienow, illustrated by Erika Medina. (Ages 4 to 8. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. $18.99.) Bold, confident and courageous, Patti McGee had already conquered swimming, diving, sailing, surfing and roller-skating when she decided to take on skateboarding — even though it just wasn’t something girls did. Despite the scrapes and crashes and the catcalls of onlookers, she persisted, “always on the lookout for a bigger hill, the biggest thrill.” Erika Medina’s buoyant drawings of McGee’s kick-turns and triumphs capture the optimism of the young athlete who took skateboarding by storm. McGee quite literally turned the sport upside down by pulling off a handstand on her deck — and went on to become the first professional female skateboarder in history.
“She Persisted: Claudette Colvin” by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint. (Ages 6 to 9. Philomel. $5.99.) For young readers, one of the most thrilling examples of good trouble is Claudette Colvin, the Montgomery, Alabama, teenager who was arrested for protesting bus segregation and — as police officers dragged her away — asserted her constitutional rights. Lesa Cline-Ransome draws a clear and vivid picture of the world Colvin lived in: “From the doctor’s office to Kress’s five-and-dime store on Monroe Street, Claudette saw that Montgomery was two different cities in one: One for white people and one for Black people.” She also depicts the details of Colvin’s life, from the death of her sister to their father’s latenight vigil, protecting Colvin with a shotgun across his lap. In terms young readers can understand, the book offers a compelling snapshot of a flashpoint in history when a 15-year-old girl decided to stand up for herself and for equality.
“An Equal Shot: How the Law Title IX Changed America” by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Dow Phumiruk.
(Ages 4 to 8. Henry Holt and Co. $19.99.) With only a handful of words itself, Helaine Becker’s stirring book pays tribute to the 37 words that changed American jobs, schools and sports. “It takes just three words to say, ‘It isn’t fair.’” With this simple idea, the book celebrates all the freedom, exploration and achievement that followed the adoption of Title IX, which said simply that no one could be excluded from federally funded educational programs on the basis of sex.
“Words can change the world,” Becker reminds her readers. In an afterword, she offers brief biographies of four groundbreaking women as well as an exploration of what the law did and how it continues to affect people’s lives today.