Laurie Halse Anderson

For the love of all that's holy - stop passing this on to students who will think, by way of their teacher's recommendation, that this is a piece of quality historical fiction. What better way to turn them off of reading, while negating the efforts of their history teachers at the same time?

The single most painful piece of poor writing I've ever seen prescribed to students. My poor 6th grader is reading this along with her class, but the opportunity came up for us to listen to the audio on a show more long car trip and I thought it could both get her ahead in Language Arts, and provide for a good story for the whole family.

The protagonist's voice could hardly be more modern, and is supposed to be the voice of a girl from 220 years in the past. There isn't even an attempt made to use period language (no, leaving references to cell phones out does not count). Laura Ingalls Wilder writes of a time 100 years after this book takes place, and yet portrays the periods language, voice, and mores a thousand times better.

The set-up is exciting, and banks on a slow build dystopian trend - it also tries to hitch a ride on even more specific trends like the day to day plodding that appeals to a fan of The Walking Dead (for example) - but if a modern sensibility is to be given to a plague outbreak story, there are unlimited better books and productions to choose from.

The treatment of girls, blacks, and other minorities in this book could hardly be less period-accurate. In the best case this was done out of ignorance and simple-minded writing, but the fact that it is assigned reading for some students, and that it has been given awards, leads me to suspect a more sinister motive: white-washing history to portray the treatment of women and minorities as all-but equal citizens 220 years ago in America - with the bonus factor (in the eyes of people with the motive to push this narrative in schools) of preaching a white-washed version of the period's Christianity in the bargain (in school - under the auspices of historical accuracy).

Completely irresponsible if not downright conspiratorial with those seeking to create a false history for the US. This would be a great book to let go out of print ASAP - or to dissect for its blatant use of misrepresentation. It certainly doesn't help that it's boring as can be for an interesting subject, in an interesting time period. You may well find yourself, as I did, rooting for the fever to do away with these insipid characters. show less

An uneven but worthy anthology of short biographies of impressive women.

I think it works best when the stories stick to straightforward and factual accounts, but some of the tales veer off into inspirational territory. I mean, how do you tell Malala Yousafzai's story and make only passing reference to the fact that she "survived an attack" and no mention of the Taliban? Why assume that the audience knows her story, especially in a book intended for young adults, some of whom will have been show more born after the date she was shot? And how do you not give Sylvia Rivera a full and proper introduction in Marsha P. Johnson's tale? She's "Sylvia" on one page and "Ms. Rivera" four pages later; some assembly required.

Actually, most of my problems with this book lay in the editorial and design choices. I think the stories needed full title pages to help distinguish them from each other, with creator credits included on the story, so I don't have to keep jumping back to the table of contents, especially since the creators interject themselves into some of the stories (some more successfully than others). A couple of the stories included distracting and silly footnotes that should have been moved to the end matter but also raised the question of why all the stories weren't similarly sourced. All or none, people, not the muddle in the middle!

The "Team Biographies and Resources" section was particularly annoying. First, instead of putting the information about the stories in the same order as the stories appeared in the rest of the book, they decided to put it in almost-kinda alphabetical order based on the subjects' last names. So we get "Beyonce" (not Knowles, mind you, despite including her surname prominently on the first page of the story), then "Keiko Agena," then "Marcia Barbosa." Later in the listing we get Judith Heumann, Leiomy Maldonado, Marsha P. Johnson. Second, they include drawn avatars of the writer and artist of each story side by side, but only one picture is captioned with which is which. In the other pictures, sometimes the writer is on the left side, and sometimes the artist is, with no indication or consistency. And one photograph is included out of the blue, even though that same creator has a sketch on her previous story in the book the very page before. Again: All or none, people, not the muddle in the middle!

Finally, the publication history of this book is a bit messed up too. Originally solicited for a 2020 publication date as Wonder Women of History, it was delayed and eventually published as Wonderful Women of the World in 2021 with a slightly different line-up of subjects and creators than was originally solicited. Rich Johnston shared a rumor on his Bleeding Cool website, that Warner Brothers higher-ups may have had qualms about the political nature of the book and did some meddling. See the final contents listing below for what was actually published, but here are the solicited stories that did not make the final cut:

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: New Voice of the Nation / Lilliam Rivera, writer; Anastasia Longoria, illustrator
• Elizabeth Warren: Nevertheless, She Persisted / Renae De Liz, writer and illustrator
• Rashida Tlaib: As American as Kenefeh / Marguerite Dabaie, writer and illustrator
• Emma Gonzalez: Never Again / Kami Garcia, writer; Igzell, illustrator
• Shi Zhengli: The Real-Life Bat-Woman Working to Save the World / Emily X.R. Pan, writer; Wendy Xu, illustrator
• Tig Notaro: Women Are Funny / Sara Farizan, writer; Nicole Goux, illustrator
• Dominique Dawes: Awesome Dawesome / Danny Lore, writer; Robyn Smith, illustrator
• Janelle Monae: (Android with) Electric Guitar Dreams / Vita Ayala, writer; O'NeillJones, illustrator

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:

• Introduction: A Girl with a Hero Can Do Anything / Laurie Halse Anderson, writer
• Wonderful Women of History [Alice Marble]

Part One: Strength

• Jenette Kahn / Agnes Garbowska, illustrator
• Serena Williams: Super Serena – G.O.A.T. / Danielle Paige, writer; Brittney Williams, illustrator
• Teara Fraser: Helping Others Soar / Traci Sorell, writer; Natasha Donovan, illustrator
• Malala Yousafzai: One for All / Son M., writer; Safiya Zerrougui, illustrator
• Leiomy Maldonado: Generational / Magdalene Vissagio, writer; Alexis Williams, breakdowns; Emma Kubert, illustrator

Part Two: Compassion

• Mary Seacole / Bex Glendining, illustrator
• Brené Brown: Braving / Louise Simonson, writer; Nicole Goux, illustrator
• Beyoncé: A Diva Who Means Business / Mikki Kendall, writer; A. D'Amico, illustrator
• Mari Copeny: Fighting for Flint / Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, writer; Cat Staggs, breakdowns; Sharee Miller, illustrator
• Mariana Costa Checa: Laboratoria of Change / Melissa Marr, writer; Marcela Cespedes, illustrator

Part Three: Justice

• Wilma Mankiller / Weshoyot Alvitre, illustrator
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Dissent / Lilah Sturges, writer; Devaki Neogi, illustrator
• Greta Thunberg: Climate Justice / Kami Garcia, writer; Igzell, illustrator
• Edith Windsor: How One Woman's Love Changed a Nation / Amanda Deibert, writer; Cat Staggs, illustrator

Part Four: Truth

• Ada Lovelace / Colleen Doran, illustrator
• Khatijah Mohamad Yusoff: Creating Heroes from Villains / Amanda Deibert, writer; Hanie Mohd, illustrator
• Francisca Nneka Okeke: Climate Change Activist and Shero / Sheena Howard, writer; Cat Staggs, breakdowns; Laylie Frazier, illustrator
• Judith Heumann: How to Ignite a Spark / Marieke Nijkamp, writer; Ashanti Fortson, illustrator
• Márcia Barbosa: Water Is Weird / Corinna Bechko, writer; Anastasia Longoria, illustrator

Part Five: Equality

• Venus Williams / Ashley A. Woods, illustrator
• Ellen Ochoa: Desination – Space! / Cecil Castellucci, writer; Carina Guevara, illustrator
• Naomi Watanabe: Finding Your Fit / Jody Houser, writer; Michiums, illustrator
• Marsha P. Johnson: The Beauty of a Brick / Jadzia Axelrod, writer; Michaela Washington, illustrator
• Keiko Agena: Asian America's B.F.F / Sarah Kuhn, writer; Lynne Yoshii, illustrator

• Team Biographies and Resources to learn more about these icons! show less

Speak didn't land with me and that's OK, I'm not it's intended audience. Shout, however, was a home run. Learning of all the miscellaneous experiences and anecdotes that make up the whole person that is Laurie Halse Anderson was so much more valuable to me than a kid-friendly story, but that's probably because... I'm an adult! I highly recommend getting the audio version read by the author. I found myself feeling unexpectedly moved and empowered by more than a few sections. Especially having show more just read Sandberg's Lean In. After these two titles, I'm often left somberly wondering how different women's lives could be if we weren't constantly tasked with all the emotional labor and the near-impossible feat of trying to avoid predatory men. It was heartbreaking to hear how creeps altered Anderson's own trajectory but I'm grateful she's sharing that now through her stories. Thanks to Shout my period will now be referred to as my exclamation mark. show less

Laurie Halse Anderson is known for her YA historical fiction, told from the perspective of a ‘common’ female character, which gives life and breadth to the real world surrounding major historical events. Rebellion 1776 fits the bill, and is told by Elsbeth, a maid in Boston during 1776. Now, I’m sure you may know all that went on historically, yet this is a more human side to the conflict, the Patriots v the Loyalists, the everyday goings on of a family entrenched in both warfare, show more friendships, relationships and the smallpox epidemic of 1775-82. When you think of the Revolutionary War, smallpox is probably the furthest from your mind, but Anderson brings the epidemic to light, along with its controversial inoculations and the suffering of its victims. Told through fictional characters, the experiences and emotions of one in the midst of it is felt keenly and without sugar coating. This is a full bodied story of a young woman’s life during this time, and like Anderson’s other YA books, it is excellently done.
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review show less