MARCH 2019 - AudioFile
Following up SHE PERSISTED with this new collection of biographies, Chelsea Clinton introduces listeners to a group of 13 international women who have shaped history. She narrates her own words in a measured tone with deliberate emphasis on the refrain, “she persisted.” Included are the familiar contemporary figures J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai, as well as scientist Marie Curie, education advocate Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, civil rights activist Viola Desmond, soccer player Sissi Lima do Amor, anti-war protestor Leymah Gbowee, astronomer Caroline Herschel, Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai, lawyer Aisha Rateb, suffragist Kate Sheppard, dancer Yuan Yuan Tan, and doctor Mary Verghese. Female voices singing cheerful tunes separate each short biography and add to the upbeat tone. S.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
02/19/2018
Clinton expands the reach of her bestselling picture book She Persisted, highlighting 13 women who have made history internationally. Her subjects include familiar contemporary figures J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai, and others less widely recognizable: astronomer Caroline Herschel; suffragist and activist for indigenous Maori women, Kate Sheppard; and Viola Desmond, who refused to leave the whites-only section of a Canadian movie theater in 1946. Clinton again writes in a measured tone that is at once celebratory and defiant. Boiger's watercolor and ink artwork exudes warmth and subtle power, each spread carefully integrating colors and thematic elements germane to the subjects: Rowling's page features a dusky purple castle and a white owl in flight, while soccer player Sisleide Lima do Amor is surrounded by the colors of the Brazilian flag. Two brown-skinned children and a white child in a wheelchair bookend the story in an opening illustration, which shows them visiting a grand library, and again on a final spread. Clinton puts opportunity and responsibility in readers' hands: "So, speak up, rise up, dream big. These women did that and more. They persisted and so should you." Ages 4–8. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Praise for She Persisted Around the World:
"Clinton again writes in a measured tone that is at once celebratory and defiant. Boiger's watercolor and ink artwork exudes warmth and subtle power." --Publishers Weekly
Praise for She Persisted:
* "[A] lovely, moving work of children's literature [and a] polished introduction to a diverse and accomplished group of women." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Exemplary . . . This well-curated list will show children that women's voices have made themselves emphatically heard." --Booklist
"[She Persisted] will remind little girls that they can achieve their goals if they don't let obstacles get in the way." --Family Circle
"We can't wait to grab a copy for some of the awesome kids in our lives . . . and maybe some of the grown-ups, too." --Bustle
"A message we all need to hear." --Scary Mommy
"This will be a great read for kids (especially young girls)." --Romper
"We cannot wait for the launch of Smart Girl Chelsea Clinton's new book to help remind kids everywhere that the fearlessness that characterizes the thirteen women in the book is what has emboldened us to constantly strive for progress and justice." --Amy Poehler's Smart Girls
MARCH 2019 - AudioFile
Following up SHE PERSISTED with this new collection of biographies, Chelsea Clinton introduces listeners to a group of 13 international women who have shaped history. She narrates her own words in a measured tone with deliberate emphasis on the refrain, “she persisted.” Included are the familiar contemporary figures J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai, as well as scientist Marie Curie, education advocate Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, civil rights activist Viola Desmond, soccer player Sissi Lima do Amor, anti-war protestor Leymah Gbowee, astronomer Caroline Herschel, Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai, lawyer Aisha Rateb, suffragist Kate Sheppard, dancer Yuan Yuan Tan, and doctor Mary Verghese. Female voices singing cheerful tunes separate each short biography and add to the upbeat tone. S.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-03-06
A scope-broadening companion to She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World (2017).Arranged in their subjects' birth order (though frequently without any dates), the brief tributes focus on the achievements of selected women from countries other than the U.S. Activists' causes include the right to an education (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexico, and Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan), environmentalism (Wangari Maathai, Kenya), anti-war protests (Leymah Gbowee, Liberia) and women's suffrage (Kate Sheppard, New Zealand, whose cause included Maori women). Marie Curie gets a nod for her two Nobel prizes, Egyptian Aisha Rateb for her trailblazing legal career, and Joanne "J.K." Rowling for Harry Potter. Brazilian soccer star Sisleide "Sissi" Lima do Amor is the one athlete in the lineup. The roster is, overall, both racially and nationally diverse—though as Chinese-American dancer Yuan Yuan Tan has spent most of her life in this country, East Asia seems underrepresented. Personal detail is so skimpy that, for instance, readers will have to infer from context that Canadian civil rights activist Viola Desmond was a woman of color. Clinton does note that astronomer Caroline Herschel was barely 4 feet tall due to a childhood disease, and following an early accident, pioneering Indian doctor Mary Verghese worked from a wheelchair. Each entry appears with a visionary quote and, from Boiger, fluidly brushed watercolor portraits of the subject as a dignified adult and also, often, a child. There is no backmatter to guide inspired readers to further information."So, speak up, rise up, dream big," Clinton urges—but, again, offers only tantalizing glimpses of women who did that. (Informational picture book. 6-9)
