Sean Addy

Amelia to Zora is a powerful, inspiring biography in the form of an alphabet book, which can be useful for many different grade levels. Setting this book apart from other biographies, Amelia to Zora journeys through the lives of 26 women who have made a difference, with a page dedicated to each woman. The pages include an illustration, two or three paragraphs to tell her story, and a quote from each difference-maker. Some of the women include, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Oprah show more Winfrey, as well as women that many students might be unfamiliar with such as Quah Ah, Maya Lin, and Rachel Carson. I didn’t think the illustrations did the women justice, however, overall I am very impressed with this book. show less

26 amazing women, 26 amazing stories; this book serves as an excellent introduction to the lives of these famous women and could be used as a jumping point from which students could do further research on the individuals that most interest them. I appreciated that readers learn not only about the hardships and triumphs that inspired each woman, but also special anecdotes that reveal aspects of their personalities (i.e. Amelia Earhart’s construction of a makeshift roller coaster in her show more backyard when she was 7 years old). show less

I picked up this book because I liked the cover and the artwork inside.
There are a few successful aspects of this book. First, the layout. The background designs draw you in, and also enrich the text. There are many excellent quotes which are also effective.
Also, there is a wide range of women featured- from all over the world, some more famous than others and of varying professions. This makes the book appeal to a child of any background.
However, there were also a few things I didn't show more like. I thought the text was very brief, and often left out key information about some of the women. In particular, I am frustrated when authors omit Helen Keller's passion for socialism. The narrowness of the text only allows you a glimpse into the world many of these women came from, and how hard they had to fight for what they wanted to accomplish.
I do not like how each bio starts with some story about something each woman did in their childhood that led to their fame. I have some issues with this because I think that they are trying hard to sell kids that they can be a hero if they pursue something that they loved at a young age. I think many leaders did not have such a storybook rise to fame. Some of these stories seem genuine and add to the description of the character (such as Amelia Earharts roller coaster invention) but some of them seem contrived and unnecessary.

I think we have to be careful of oversimplification like this when we make our A-Z book for Louisiana. I don't think we need dense text, but we should be intentional about including useful information rather than just fluff. show less

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very interesting and joyous to read about the impact a plethora of women have had on the world. Within this book, there were many people I knew about and many I had no clue about. So, because of that I gained a lot of knowledge by reading this alphabet book. I was pleased to see the author find a woman for each letter in the alphabet. Also, I really liked that there were quotes from each woman in the book.