In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve selected titles focusing on the lives of women and girls throughout the past and into the present day. We hope these selections serve to educate and encourage a dialogue on topics of women’s history, rights, and stories.


Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu

Penelope Bagieu profiles the lives of these feisty female role models, some world famous, some little known. From Nellie Bly to Mae Jemison or Josephine Baker to Naziq al-Abid, the stories in this comic biography are sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 


Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World edited by Kelly Jensen

A scrapbook-style teen guide to understanding what it really means to be a feminist packed with contributions from a diverse range of voices, including celebrities and public figures, and featuring more than forty-four pieces.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 

 


Because I was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of all Ages edited by Melissa De la Cruz

Brief writings from an array of girls and women who are trailblazers in their fields, discussing the barriers they’ve faced, the battles they’ve fought, and the dreams they’ve brought to life.

Available formats: Book


Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time by Tanya Lee Stone

Girl Rising, a global campaign for girls’ education, created a film that chronicled the stories of nine girls in the developing world, allowing viewers the opportunity to witness how education can break the cycle of poverty. Author Tanya Lee Stone deftly uses new research to illuminate the dramatic facts behind the film, focusing both on the girls captured on camera and many others.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 


Girls Who Run the World by Diana Kapp

Brief sketches, each accompanied by a drawing of the subject, profile women who are breaking career barriers. Kapp starts each profile with a short, breezy Q&A, then covers the woman’s inspirations, achievements, and plans for the future. She also provides DIY tips and must-know concepts to help readers create their own success stories.

Available formats: Book

 


In Good Hands by Stephanie Mackendrick

A series of engaging and approachable profiles of women who have run for office. They come from across the political spectrum, around the world, and at all levels of politics. Readers will learn what inspired them to run, how they managed to win, and what they accomplished once they came to office.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Ebook)

 


Bold Women of Medicine by Susan M. Latta

Women who have dedicated their lives to saving others. From bold pioneers such as Florence Nightingale and Mary Edwards Walker, to modern-day medical heroines, readers will meet women who inspire with their courage and persistence.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Ebook)

 

 

 

 

 


Teen Trailblazers by Jennifer Calvert

This book features 30 young women who accomplished remarkable things before their twentieth birthdays. Visually compelling with original illustrations, this book will inspire the next generation of strong, fearless women.

Available formats: Book

 


Women in Space by Karen Bush Gibson

By breaking the stratospheric ceiling, these women forged a path for many female astronauts, cosmonauts, and mission specialists to follow. Readers will learn about the Mercury 13, American women selected by NASA in the late 1950s to train for spaceflight. Their story, and the stories of the pilots, physicists, and doctors who followed them, demonstrate the vital role women have played in the quest for scientific understanding.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Ebook)

 

 

 


Radioactive! by Winifred Conkling

Radioactive! presents the story of two women breaking ground in a male-dominated field, scientists still largely unknown despite their crucial contributions to cutting-edge research, in a nonfiction narrative that reads with the suspense of a thriller.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Ebook), Hoopla (Audiobook)


Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Explores the previously uncelebrated but pivotal contributions of NASA’s African-American women mathematicians to America’s space program, describing how Jim Crow laws segregated them from their white counterparts despite their groundbreaking successes.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Ebook), Hoopla (Audiobook)

 

 

 

 

 


Ms. Gloria Steinem: A Life by Winifred Conkling

Throughout the years, Gloria Steinem is perhaps the single-most iconic figure associated with women’s rights. Documenting everything from her boundary-pushing journalistic career to the foundation of Ms. magazine to being awarded the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom, this book is a meticulously researched YA biography that is sure to satisfy even the most voracious of aspiring glass-ceiling smashers.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Audiobook)

 

 


Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was just trying to make the world a little better and a little freer. Along the way, the feminist pioneer’s searing dissents and steely strength have inspired millions. Notorious RBG takes you behind the myth for an intimate, irreverent look at the justice’s life and work. As America struggles with the unfinished business of gender equality and civil rights, Ginsburg stays fierce.

Available formats: Book, Audiobook

 

 

 

 


Marie Curie: A Life of Discovery by Alice Milani

This graphic novel explores the life of celebrated scientist Marie Curie. From her time as a struggling governess to her years in France making breakthrough discoveries. Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. Curie defies doubt and double standards to make an enduring impact on the scientific world.

Available formats: Book, Hoopla (Ebook)


Florence Nightingale: The Courageous Life of the Legendary Nurse by Catherine Reef

The pioneering nurse best known for her work during the Crimean War, where she rectified horrifying conditions and made nightly rounds to check on patients, saving hundreds of lives and sparking worldwide healthcare reform.

Available formats: Book


Malala, Mi Historia by Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, but her miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey. Here is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, and of a father who encouraged his daughter to attend school in a society that prizes sons.

Available formats: Book


Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott

This book full of poems pays tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls. This collection features forty-nine powerful poems.

Available formats: Book, Audiobook (Hoopla), Ebook (OverDrive by Media On Demand)

 


The #MeToo Movement by Peggy J Parks

The hashtag “MeToo” went viral on social media and soon became a symbol of unity for women who had been sexually harassed or assaulted. This led to the launch of the #MeToo movement, a global campaign against sexual harassment. This book examines #MeToo’s history, what the movement has accomplished, unexpected consequences, and where it is expected to go in the future.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 


You Too? by Janet Gurtler

A collection of essays inspired by the #MeToo movement. When #MeToo went viral millions of people began to reflect on past experiences. Janet Gurtler needed teens to know what she had not: that no young person should be subject to sexual assault, or made to feel unsafe, less than or degraded.

Available formats: Book, Audiobook (Hoopla)

 

 

 


Votes For Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot by Winifred Conkling

The story of the 19th Amendment and the nearly eighty-year fight for voting rights for women, covering not only the suffragists’ achievements and politics, but also the private journeys that led them to become women’s champions.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla), Audiobook (Hoopla)

 

 

 


Jane Against the World by Karen Blumenthal

Tracing the path to the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade and the continuing battle for women’s rights, Blumenthal examines, in a straightforward tone, the root causes of the current debate around abortion and repercussions that have affected generations of American women.

Available formats: Book, Audiobook (OverDrive by Media On Demand)

 

 

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