SHE SPOKE

Introductions to 14 women activists,
with an audio feature that allows readers to literally hear what they had to
say.

The roster opens with Mary McLeod
Bethune, speaking of bridges and “brotherhood” in 1955. It goes on to pay
respects to a mix of eminent role models (all but three still living), from Maya
Angelou and Jane Goodall to Nobel Peace Prize winners Leymah Gbowee and Malala
Yousafzai, disabled veteran and recently elected senator Tammy Duckworth, and
Native rights activist Suzan Shown Harjo, a founding “director” (actually,
trustee) of the National Museum of the American Indian. Each single-spread
entry includes a career overview, a stylized but recognizable full-page painted
portrait, provocative questions addressed to readers (“What skill do you have
that you could teach the people around you?” “Do you think you have an
obligation to help those who need it?”), and a transcription of the
accompanying sound clip. The last is helpful, as the clips, which are taken
from speeches or interviews, run from around 15 to 30 seconds each, and are
keyed from a side-mounted touch pad, vary in clarity. The words are all
inspirational, and so are the stories. Better still, as examples for budding
activists, along with the predictable recitations of jobs, honors, and successes,
the overviews often acknowledge failures, cannily characterizing them as first
steps or as means to some greater end.

A chorus of voices for justice and
change, diverse alike of identity and cause. (further reading) (Novelty/biography.
8-12)