Women Who Dared: 52 Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebels

What do a wing-walker, a wrestler, a cosmonaut, a lighthouse-keeper, and a spy all have in common? They are all women who did these things long before it was acceptable for women to be in such professions. Author Linda Skeers has gathered the stories of 52 women who did amazing and wonderful things with their lives in times and places when, according to their societies, they had absolutely no business doing them. Take Rose Fortune, for instance. She was a former slave who escaped to Canada with her family in the late 1700s. She was an entrepreneur who built a business on transporting luggage and making wake-up calls. This is just one example of these many fascinating women. Each has a full-page biography with some fun graphics, created by illustrator Livi Gosling, and a full-page drawing of the woman. Young readers ages eight and up will find wonderful role models, and the compelling stories in these pages may give them the impetus to try new things and take the steps they need to create their own daring moments in life. The writing is snappy and the illustrations fun. This is a winner.