Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
May 1, 2018/in Non Fiction 8-10 Junior/Middle /by Ellie
BfK Rating:
BfK 230 May 2018
Reviewer: Clive Barnes
ISBN: 978-0525516996
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Philomel Books
Genre: Non Fiction
Age Range: 8-10 Junior/Middle
Length: 32pp
Buy the Book

She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History

Author: Chelsea ClintonIllustrator: Alexandra Boiger

This is the follow up to Chelsea Clinton’s more parochial (or is it imperial?) roster of women determined to make their mark, She Persisted: Thirteen American Women Who Changed the World. Addressed specifically to young girls, this picture book features a fully illustrated double page spread for each woman. There is a short paragraph about their achievements and an apposite quote from them. In each biographical section the mantra ‘she persisted’ is highlighted, so that even the child whose mind might wander will not fail to get the message. There is a good selection of past and present high achieving women from a variety of countries and fields of endeavour, some of whom may well be unfamiliar. It’s a handsomely produced book which will help to satisfy the current hunger for female iconography. I do have some misgivings about it. Not about highlighting the achievements and contribution of women (he adds quickly) but about the way in which it comes across here as implicitly tied to the notion of individual success as being the most important goal in life. Many of these women were driven by other motives: a thirst for knowledge, a need for self-expression, or a sense of justice, for instance. Some were part of wider movements for change. Success, measured sometimes in Nobel prizes, was not the main motivation. True, you can gather some of this even from these short accounts of their lives. But it is coated with the gloss of celebrity. Final semantic quibble: you can say they changed the world; you can say they made history; but, as there are no famous women historians (or time travellers) in the book, none of them, in any sense, ‘changed history’.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Ellie http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Ellie2018-05-01 17:34:042021-04-10 10:31:25She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Effervescent, scintillating, riveting!’ Collection of ‘colossal’ word poems wins the CLiPPA

June 20, 2025

Winners of the 2025 Carnegie Medals announced

June 19, 2025

Inclusive Books for Children book-gifting scheme expands again

June 18, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Happyville High: Geek Tragedy HerStory: 50 women and girls who shook the world
Scroll to top