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.
The Bug Girl: A True Story by Sophia Spencer
Sophia Spencer has loved bugs ever since a butterfly landed on her shoulder at a butterfly conservancy when she was only two-and-a-half years old. In preschool and kindergarten, Sophia was thrilled to share what she knew about grasshoppers (her very favorite insects), as well as ants and fireflies. By first grade, not everyone shared her enthusiasm. Some students bullied her, and Sophia stopped talking about bugs altogether. When Sophia’s mother wrote to an entomological society looking for a bug scientist to be a pen pal for her daughter, she and Sophie were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response–letters, photos, and videos came flooding in. Enjoy brightly colored illustrations that capture the joy discovering like minded scientists.
Available formats: Book
June Almeida, Virus Detective!: The Woman who Discovered the first Human Coronavirus by Suzanne Slade
June Almeida loved learning about science and nature. Creative and observant, June noticed details that others often missed. She dreamed of attending university, but economic hardships caused her to leave school at age 16. Still, June was determined to pursue her passion for science. She was hired by a local hospital to work in its lab, using a microscope to magnify and examine cells. Her work helped doctors treat patients. June later worked in labs in London and in Toronto. Her skill in using the electron microscope to examine cells and help identify viruses earned her promotion and respect in the science community. During one of her examinations June discovered the first human coronavirus. Her groundbreaking work continues to help researchers today in the fight against illnesses caused by viruses, including COVID-19.
Available formats: Book
Secrets of the Sea: The Story of Jeanne Power, Revolutionary Marine Scientist by Evan Griffith
Jeanne Power wanted to learn about the creatures that swim beneath the ocean waves, so she built glass tanks and changed the way we study underwater life forever. Using this invention Jeanne solved mysteries of sea animals and published her findings at a time when few of women’s contributions to science were acknowledged. When men tried to take credit for her achievements, she stood firm and insisted on the recognition due to her. Jeanne Power was inspiring, and the legacy of this pioneering marine scientist lives on in every aquarium.
Available formats: Book
The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague by Julia Finley Mosca
After touring a German submarine in the early 1940s, young Raye set her sights on becoming an engineer. Raye faced many barriers, she had to fight sexism and racial discrimination to achieve her engineering dreams. Raye merged technology and ship design, creating the first ever computer drafted ship design. Through it all of the struggles, this gifted mathematician persisted– finally gaining her well-deserved title in history: a pioneer who changed the course of ship design forever. This wonderful picture book biography is the third in the series, Amazing Scientists, that explores the lives of groundbreaking scientists.
Available formats: Book
The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest by Heather Lang
Meg Lowman was always fascinated by the natural world above her head. The colors, the branches, and, most of all, the leaves and mysterious organisms living there. As a scientist, Meg set out to climb up and investigate the rain forest tree canopies and to be the first scientist to do so. She encountered challenge after challenge. Meg never gave up or gave in. She studied, invented, and persevered, not only creating a future for herself as a scientist, but making sure that the rainforests had a future as well.
Available formats: Book
Beatrix Potter, Scientist by Lindsay H. Metcalf
Everyone knows Beatrix Potter as the creator of the Peter Rabbit stories. Before that, she was a girl of science. As a child, Beatrix collected nature specimens; as a young adult, she was an amateur mycologist presenting her research on mushrooms and other fungi to England’s foremost experts. Like many women of her time, she remained unacknowledged by the scientific community, but her keen eye for observation led her to an acclaimed career as an artist and storyteller. A beloved author is cast in a new light in this inspiring picture book story.
Available formats: eBook (Hoopla)
Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe
For six years Sophie Germain used her love of math and her undeniable determination to test equations that would predict patterns of vibrations. She eventually became the first woman to win a grand prize from France’s prestigious Academy of Sciences for her formula, which laid the groundwork for much of modern architecture.
Available formats: Book
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating
Eugenie Clark fell in love with sharks from the first moment she saw them at the aquarium. She couldn’t imagine anything more exciting than studying these graceful creatures. Eugenie devoted her life to learning about sharks. After earning several college degrees and making countless discoveries, Eugenie wrote herself into the history of science, earning the nickname “Shark Lady.” Through her accomplishments, she taught the world that sharks were to be admired rather than feared and that women can do anything they set their minds to.
Available formats: Audiobook (Hoopla)
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone
In the 1830s, when a brave and curious girl named Elizabeth Blackwell was growing up, women were supposed to be wives and mothers. Some women could be teachers or seamstresses, but career options were few. Certainly no women were doctors. Elizabeth refused to accept the common beliefs that women weren’t smart enough to be doctors, or that they were too weak for such hard work. And she would not take no for an answer. Although she faced much opposition, she worked hard and finally, when she graduated from medical school and went on to have a brilliant career, she proved her detractors wrong. This inspiring story of the first female doctor shows how one strong-willed woman opened the doors for all the female doctors to come.
Available formats: Book, Audiobook (Hoopla)
The Doctor With An Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath by Julia Finley Mosca
As a girl coming of age during the Civil Rights Movement, Patricia Bath made it her mission to become a doctor. When obstacles like racism, poverty, and sexism threatened this goal, she persevered, brightening the world with a game, and changing treatment for blindness. This is the second book in the Amazing Scientists series that explores the lives of groundbreaking scientists.
Available formats: Book, eBook (Hoopla)
The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton by Audrey Vernick
Beginning in 1922, when Edith Houghton was only ten years old, she tried out for a women’s professional baseball team, the Philadelphia Bobbies. Though she was the smallest on the field, soon reporters were talking about “The Kid” and her incredible skill, and crowds were packing the stands to see her play. Her story reminds us that baseball has never been about just men and boys. Baseball is also about talented girls willing to work hard to play any way they can.
Available formats: Book
The Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle
Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule—until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongós. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream. Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers. This picture book tells an inspiring true story for dreamers everywhere.
Available formats: Book
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember. As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from her family s Majestic radio. At age seven, Melba fell in love with a big, shiny trombone, and soon taught herself to play the instrument. By the time she was a teenager, Melba s extraordinary gift for music led her to the world of jazz. Overcoming obstacles of race and gender, Melba went on to become a famed trombone player and arranger, spinning rhythms, harmonies, and melodies into gorgeous songs for all the jazz greats of the twentieth century. Brimming with ebullience and the joy of making music, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a fitting tribute to a trailblazing musician and a great unsung hero of jazz.
Available formats: Book
Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity! by Sarah Suzuki
Growing up in the mountains of Japan, Yayoi Kusama dreamed of becoming an artist. One day, she had a vision in which the world and everything in it: the plants, the people, and the sky, were covered in polka dots. She began to cover her paintings, drawings, sculptures, and even her body with dots. As she grew up, she traveled all around the world, from Tokyo to Seattle, New York to Venice, and brought her dots with her. Different people saw these dots in different ways, some thought they were tiny, like cells, and others imagined them enormous, like planets. Every year, Kusama sees more of the world, covering it with dots and offering people a way to experience it the way she does.
Available formats: Book
Are You an Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko by Misuzu Kaneko
In early-1900s Japan, Misuzu Kaneko grows from precocious bookworm to instantly-beloved children’s poet. Her life ends prematurely, and Misuzu’s work is forgotten. Decades later her poems are rediscovered, just in time to touch a new generation devastated by the tsunami of 2011. This picture book features Misuzu’s life story plus a trove of her poetry in English and the original Japanese.
Available formats: Book
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Marian Anderson is best known for her historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, which drew an integrated crowd of 75,000 people in pre-Civil Rights America. While this momentous event showcased the uniqueness of her voice, the strength of her character, and the struggles of the times in which she lived, it is only part of her story.
Available formats: Book
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children by Jan Pinborough
At one time American children couldn’t borrow library books. Reading wasn’t all that important for children, many thought. Luckily Miss Anne Carroll Moore thought otherwise! This is the true story of how Miss Moore created the first children’s room at the New York Public Library, a bright, warm room filled with artwork, window seats, and most important of all, borrowing privileges to the world’s best children’s books in many different languages.
Available formats: Book
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel
When Clara arrived in America, she couldn’t speak English. She didn’t know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast. Clara went to night school, spent hours studying English, and helped support her family by sewing in a shirtwaist factory. Clara never quit, and she never accepted that girls should be treated poorly and paid little. Fed up with the mistreatment of her fellow laborers, Clara led the largest walkout of women workers the country had seen. Clara learned that everyone deserved a fair chance and that you had to stand together and fight for what you wanted.
Available formats: Book
Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
Long before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, Ella Baker worked to lift others up by fighting racial injustice and empowering poor African Americans to stand up for their rights. Her dedication and grassroots work in many communities made her a valuable ally for leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and she has been ranked as one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement.
Available formats: Book
What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton
Even as a child growing up in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas, Barbara Jordan stood out for her big, bold, booming, crisp, clear, confident voice. It was a voice that made people sit up, stand up, and take notice. Barbara took her voice to places few African American women had been in the 1960s: first law school, then the Texas state senate, then up to the United States congress. Throughout her career, she persevered through adversity to give voice to the voiceless and to fight for civil rights, equality, and justice.
Available formats: Book
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