Great Books about Strong Girls and Women -A Short List
There are many great books featuring strong female main characters. Here we’ve selected a few, though we’d love to hear your selections too. Please share your favorite in the comments.
*Grace for President – When Grace finds that there has never been a female president of the United States, she decides right then and there that she will be the first. Her first foray into politics will be the school’s mock election. (Kelley DiPucchio; Disney-Hyperion)
*Rosie Revere, Engineer – Rosie is a budding engineer and inventor and when she is visited by her famous aunt Rosie the Riveter, she sets out to build a machine that will fly. (Andrea Beaty; Harry N. Abrams)
*Not All Princesses Dress in Pink – this book of rhymes offers alternatives to the cloying stereotypes many princess books offer and instead focus on girls riding bikes, doing carpentry, and getting muddy while dancing with dogs in the rain. (Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple; Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
*Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist -this biography tells the story of Clark who loved sharks as a kid and helps inspire girls to go into science studies and careers. (Jess Keating; Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)
*She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World-this book features stories of inspirational women in history such as Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Ruby Bridges, Margaret Chase Smith, Sally Ride, Florence Griffith Joyner, Oprah Winfrey, and Sonia Sotomayor. (Chelsea Clinton; Philomel Books)
*I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark-this picture book tells the story of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She has spent a lifetime disagreeing-with inequality, social injustice, and unfair treatment. Through this book, girls can learn that disagreeing doesn’t mean you are disagreeable. (Debbie Levy; Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
