No Ordinary Women: How Progressive Era Reformers Reshaped America

by P. O’Connell Pearson

Acclaimed author P. O’Connell Pearson tells the inspiring story of the trailblazing women of the Progressive movement and their work that led to political, economic, and social change that impacts us to this very day in this nonfiction middle grade book.

A country torn apart. A staggering gulf between rich and poor. Rampant inequality. The United States in the 1800s sounds a lot like it does today. But the actions taken by everyday citizens back then can empower us now.

Through grassroots movements, people remade American society and government from the ground up. These activists were the Progressives, and thousands of them were women—even though women did not yet have the right to vote. From every part of the country and from every background, women set about seeking reforms—broadening democracy, moving American society from the perspective of me to us, and ushering in a new way of thinking about our responsibilities to one another. The result was sixty years of political, economic, and social national achievement.

All Americans have the power to create equity and justice. After all, the people at the forefront of this movement were just ordinary women—who did something extraordinary.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Hardcover

Published June 23, 2026

About the author

P. O'Connell Pearson spent many happy years teaching history and now writes about history for ages ten and up. She looks for stories in American history that may not be well-known, and she especially likes stories that have meaning for today. She's written about women who broke barriers to serve their country in wartime, a government at its best facing economic and environmental disaster, and people who stepped up to defend the Constitution when a president violated his oath and threatened democracy.
Her debut nonfiction Fly Girls: The Daring American Women Pilots Who Helped Win WWII won the 2020 Grand Canyon Readers Award for Best Tween Nonfiction. Fighting for the Forest: How FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps Helped Save America was a finalist for the New York Historical Society Children's History Book prize. And Conspiracy: Nixon, Watergate, and Democracy's Defenders released in October, 2020.
When she is not writing or researching, Pearson can often be found telling the stories of history as a volunteer with the National Park Service in Washington, DC.

Reviews

[Annotations&Air · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be not only an excellent introduction for kids to the history of women's activism in the US at the turn of the 19th century, but also for adults. Pearson has a writing style that is readily adaptable to any audience. As I was reading, I quickly forgot that I was reviewing a middle grade book, so engrossed did I become in the stories and the way she recounted them. I also really appreciated the way she set the stage at the start of the book for the economic factors which impacted the decisions of these women to step out of their lives and try to change the world around them.

Lillian Wald, Albion Fellows Bacon, Lugenia Burns Hope, Leonora O'Reilly and Sarah Chase Harris are a few of the women readers will meet in this thoroughly researched work. Their stories come to vivid life in pages that thrum with the daily struggles of the working poor in the US in a time before public health, sanitation, unions and labor laws, and housing regulations.

Recommended for classrooms, school and public libraries and home collections for children 5th grade/age 10 and up.

Thank you so much to the author, Atheneum Books for Youth Readers and NetGalley for the early copy to review.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many of these women have you heard of? Lillian Wald. Mary Brewster. Albion Bacon. Lugenia Hope. Leonora O'Reilly. Sarah Platt Decker. Laura White. Mary Church Terrell. Anna Cooper. I hadn't heard of any of them before reading this book, yet all were responsible for tremendous improvements in our society that we take for granted today. Read this book to be informed about reformers!

[Danielle Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

I really enjoyed reading about these amazing women of the progressive era! I learned a lot and was motived to do the work to keep our liberties in tact for the future. I saw minuscule steps turn into major progress and there are some modern activists int his book too. Very well written, educational and motivating..