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"Well-behaved women seldom make history." —Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
Fresh, accessible, and inspiring, Shaking Things Up introduces fourteen revolutionary young women—each paired with a noteworthy female artist—to the next generation of activists, trail-blazers, and rabble-rousers. From the award-winning author of Ada’s Violin, Susan Hood, this is a poetic and visual picture book that celebrates persistent women throughout history.
Among the powerful pairings: Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall takes on heroic World War II spies Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne; Selina Alko is matched with the brave Malala Yousafzai; New York Times bestselling illustrator Emily Winfield Martin is paired with the inventor of the controversial one-piece bathing suit, Annette Kellerman; and Shadra Strickland introduces America’s first known female firefighter, Molly Williams.
While women make up over half of the U.S. population, they face discrimination, have less representation in government and other fields, and struggle every day for their human rights. It is more important now than ever to raise a generation of girls who, in the face of adversity, persevere. This book was written, illustrated, edited, and designed by women.
Includes a foreword by a prominent female activist, an author’s note, a timeline, and additional resources.
This book features: Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, Lisa Brown, Hadley Hooper, Emily Winfield Martin, Oge Mora, Julie Morstad, Sara Palacios, LeUyen Pham, Erin Robinson, Isabel Roxas, Shadra Strickland, and Melissa Sweet.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 23, 2018
A New Vision
Maya Lin, Architect and Sculptor
In 1981, entry #1026 won
a competition
to build a memorial
to the fallen soldiers of Vietnam--
a controversial twenty-year war
where so many had died.
When Maya Lin's name was revealed,
some were outraged that
someone so young, just twenty-one,
someone Asian American,
someone female
had bested the best architects
to honor men killed in Vietnam
in a war we had not won.
Maya's design
was not perched high on a pedestal
but carved into the ground,
a long walk down
into the earth
and then back out again.
"I imagined taking a knife
and cutting into the earth," she said.
Like war, it would create a wound
that would heal with time but leave a scar.
Maya's design showed not a face or two
but more than 58,000 names--
spelling out, one by one,
just how many were lost;
it was not made
of traditional pure white marble
but black-as-night granite.
Maya Lin knew that,
polished to a high shine,
black granite is a mirror
for those who have come to reflect,
those present who gaze into the past.
After all,
what should a war memorial do?
Unearth memory,
make us cry,
see ourselves,
and then lead us back up
into hope,
into the light.