  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 05/01/2017 After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Senator Elizabeth Warren to stand down, he noted afterward that “she persisted.” Clinton uses this admonition as a jumping-off point to introduce 13 women who overcame obstacles to affect history, beginning by telling girls not to listen to naysayers. Clinton then introduces reporter Nelly Bly, labor activist Clara Lemlich, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, and ballerina Maria Tallchief, among others, in short paragraphs. This brevity lends itself to some omissions and confusions. For instance, it seems odd not to mention teacher Anne Sullivan in the discussion of Helen Keller’s persistence, and saying Claudette Colvin’s refusal to relinquish her bus seat helped inspire Rosa Parks’ civil disobedience, “an act many point to as starting the modern civil rights movement,” might make kids wonder why Parks gets the credit and not Colvin. The concise text does give more space for the exemplary watercolors, which show both delicacy and strength, and features inspiring quotes. This well-curated list will show children that women’s voices have made themselves emphatically heard. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This book has published quickly to capitalize on the steam of the still-going “She Persisted” meme. Clinton’s celebrity status only catapults interest higher. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. Loading...
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