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Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs – An Inspiring Celebration of Powerful Women Who Changed the World
The author of Rejected Princesses returns with an inspiring, fully illustrated guide that brings together the fiercest mothers in history—real life matriarchs who gave everything to protect all they loved.
Mothers possess the "maternal instinct"—an innate fierceness that drives them to nurture, safeguard, fight, and sacrifice for the most important things that matter to them. For some mothers, it’s their children. For others, it’s artistic expression, invention, social cause, or even a nation that they helped to birth. In Tough Mothers, Jason Porath brings his wisdom and wit to bear on fifty fascinating matriarchs.
In concise, deeply researched vignettes, accompanied by charming illustrations, Porath illuminates these fearsome women, explores their lives, and pays tribute to their accomplishments. Here are famous women as well as lesser known figures from around the globe who have left their indelible mark as they changed the course of history, including:
The Mother Who Sued to Save Her Children from Slavery—Sojourner Truth
The Mother of Rock n’ Roll—Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Mother of Holocaust Children—Irena Sendler
The Mothers of The Dominican Republic—The Mirabal Sisters
The Mother of Yemen’s Golden Age—Arwa al-Sulayhi
A celebration of motherhood and female achievement, Tough Mothers reminds us of the power of women to transform our lives and our world.
Mothers possess the "maternal instinct"—an innate fierceness that drives them to nurture, safeguard, fight, and sacrifice for the most important things that matter to them. For some mothers, it’s their children. For others, it’s artistic expression, invention, social cause, or even a nation that they helped to birth. In Tough Mothers, Jason Porath brings his wisdom and wit to bear on fifty fascinating matriarchs.
In concise, deeply researched vignettes, accompanied by charming illustrations, Porath illuminates these fearsome women, explores their lives, and pays tribute to their accomplishments. Here are famous women as well as lesser known figures from around the globe who have left their indelible mark as they changed the course of history, including:
The Mother Who Sued to Save Her Children from Slavery—Sojourner Truth
The Mother of Rock n’ Roll—Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Mother of Holocaust Children—Irena Sendler
The Mothers of The Dominican Republic—The Mirabal Sisters
The Mother of Yemen’s Golden Age—Arwa al-Sulayhi
A celebration of motherhood and female achievement, Tough Mothers reminds us of the power of women to transform our lives and our world.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2018
114 people are currently reading
2427 people want to read
About the author
Jason Porath
6 books182 followersIn a past life, Jason Porath used to work on animated movies such as How to Train Your Dragon 2, Megamind, and The Croods. Upon leaving the animation industry, he started Rejected Princesses: a blog celebrating women of history and myth who were too awesome, awful, or offbeat for the animated princess treatment. It went viral, there's a book, and the rest is history.
Jason lives in Los Angeles, enjoys exploring abandoned buildings, and sings a lot of karaoke.
Jason lives in Los Angeles, enjoys exploring abandoned buildings, and sings a lot of karaoke.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
July 22, 2025
Found serendipity I thought the title rather intriguing. I read it in total. Although after page 102 I did so in a much more quickened style. Almost to a speed read level but slowing down for certain points of classification etc. and also to view the artwork. Also noting the sub-title introduction to each Mother. And the ratings given to each woman introduced. Kinky warning categories.
This book is weird. Very difficult for me to describe. I've spent a day in travel yesterday and it came to my mind several times on what adjectives this book could be said to encompass.
Strange "affect" fare, weird, kooky, social warrior modern sensibility murky judgments of right/ wrong to various moral codes. And most of all a truly ridiculous kind of coding system used and put on the opening page to each character. So you are warned? Abuse, rape, child loss, abandonment, etc. You get the idea. As if the reader of every age was a 7 year old and needs to be told what to view or allow their poor psyches to experience. Self anointed judge decrees by the sanctimonious? Regardless, the copy itself was not thorough or horrific enough for each or any life event to make the system of warning at all necessary, IMHO. And the tone of the author within the life tale's was intrusive. Often putting his own asides into inappropriate context to the woman's era, life. A type of reacting too, so you know how his superior intellect and fair judgments are going to now stick to the essence. And this is reflected in the footnotes too. It's absolutely beyond weird. It nearly perverts the biography aspect. He even states he is skipping a coup or some such major action in the woman's life because it doesn't pertain to the final onus of her "mightiest" faction. HUH!
I wouldn't let a 10 year old near this book, if that's why the rating system. The relative morality alone and tone of speaking to some atrocity feature of "heroism" or another outlier crime for the era after another was beyond off-putting. And at times appalled me. Nasty and other highly aggressive words being used as positive trait descriptions? Anger and revenge as prominent "goods"? One rolls the last khan's head out to his subjects and makes everyone laugh. GOOD JOKE!
Some of these women were heroines. Some were not. A few might be far better off forgotten, IMHO.
Even the word "mightiest" in the title? Mighty must have a connotation surrounding qualities quite different to Jason Porath than it does to me. This book is eccentric in tone and in form, and holds not just outlier definitions, but also a ADHD length of style.
The drawings and art were absolutely the best parts of the book. I wouldn't have picked it up without those whole page entries for each introduced woman. Those were 3 or 4 star for the pictorial symbols and styles of their lives.
This book is weird. Very difficult for me to describe. I've spent a day in travel yesterday and it came to my mind several times on what adjectives this book could be said to encompass.
Strange "affect" fare, weird, kooky, social warrior modern sensibility murky judgments of right/ wrong to various moral codes. And most of all a truly ridiculous kind of coding system used and put on the opening page to each character. So you are warned? Abuse, rape, child loss, abandonment, etc. You get the idea. As if the reader of every age was a 7 year old and needs to be told what to view or allow their poor psyches to experience. Self anointed judge decrees by the sanctimonious? Regardless, the copy itself was not thorough or horrific enough for each or any life event to make the system of warning at all necessary, IMHO. And the tone of the author within the life tale's was intrusive. Often putting his own asides into inappropriate context to the woman's era, life. A type of reacting too, so you know how his superior intellect and fair judgments are going to now stick to the essence. And this is reflected in the footnotes too. It's absolutely beyond weird. It nearly perverts the biography aspect. He even states he is skipping a coup or some such major action in the woman's life because it doesn't pertain to the final onus of her "mightiest" faction. HUH!
I wouldn't let a 10 year old near this book, if that's why the rating system. The relative morality alone and tone of speaking to some atrocity feature of "heroism" or another outlier crime for the era after another was beyond off-putting. And at times appalled me. Nasty and other highly aggressive words being used as positive trait descriptions? Anger and revenge as prominent "goods"? One rolls the last khan's head out to his subjects and makes everyone laugh. GOOD JOKE!
Some of these women were heroines. Some were not. A few might be far better off forgotten, IMHO.
Even the word "mightiest" in the title? Mighty must have a connotation surrounding qualities quite different to Jason Porath than it does to me. This book is eccentric in tone and in form, and holds not just outlier definitions, but also a ADHD length of style.
The drawings and art were absolutely the best parts of the book. I wouldn't have picked it up without those whole page entries for each introduced woman. Those were 3 or 4 star for the pictorial symbols and styles of their lives.
July 26, 2021
Bite-sized biographies of some of histories most ferocious, world-shaking mothers. Some of these I kew about, but some I did not. Many of them founded institutions that still stand today, or their accomplishments are still known, even if their names are obscured.
June 1, 2018
This book is a fun read in many ways, and the pictures are pretty great. However, one should definitely take the stories with a grain of salt, as the author runs into the problem that so many run into. As a writer who is clearly not a historian or a historian-like writer, the author is incredibly prone to putting his opinion as fact, as well as giving his conclusions without showing the reader the facts that led him to them. This is a problem that many folks run into when writing about history for reasons other than history itself, and the author of this book is no exception.
He repeatedly will describe historical figures as bad, instead of giving the reader the facts and letting them make up their own mind (though this isn't consistently the case throughout); he tells the reader about events in a way that they just have to accept his word for it, as in 'the act was unfair and caused hardship to many people', which would leave many readers asking, 'How was it unfair? How did it cause hardship? How is hardship defined? What are the actual words of the act?' None of these questions are answered.
He also has a clear bias in how he lazily repeats feminist myths. 'Men are afraid of women in power', for instance, when there are perfectly legitimate reasons to be afraid of the woman in question--or to hope that they could overcome her and steal her position of power. Misogyny also is different in many different cultures, and he ignores this to use the same tired story.
His portrayal of Mother Jones is interesting in that he calls her 'problematic' because she 'said very nasty things' about Margaret Sanger. Wherever you may stand on the abortion issue, Margaret Sanger was a eugenicist and consistently wanted to sterilize or otherwise get rid of 'human weeds'. She is not a saint, and there are perfectly legitimate reasons for disliking her, especially in the time period. People had pretty strong opinions on many things and clashed a lot. I don't know what she said about Sanger, as a Google search hasn't seemed to provide answers, but I find it incredibly biased and disingenuous that he would tell us she's bad without providing the quotes in question.
The book also runs into the common practice today of including Mothers of [Science, Art, etc.] as mothers, though this is fairly scant. My general feeling is that he should just accept that some women aren't mothers in the literal sense and that's okay. If he can't manage to scrape together enough biological and adoptive moms for this book, maybe he should have just called it Rejected Princesses, Volume II. I would expect, however, that it shouldn't be that hard to find notable mothers. As wonderful as the entry on Marsha P. Johnson was, for instance, it belonged in a Rejected Princesses book, not a Tough Mothers book.
I hope that the author is able to learn to correct his bias in writing about historical topics, because many of the folks featured are very interesting people and this book could have been much better than it was.
He repeatedly will describe historical figures as bad, instead of giving the reader the facts and letting them make up their own mind (though this isn't consistently the case throughout); he tells the reader about events in a way that they just have to accept his word for it, as in 'the act was unfair and caused hardship to many people', which would leave many readers asking, 'How was it unfair? How did it cause hardship? How is hardship defined? What are the actual words of the act?' None of these questions are answered.
He also has a clear bias in how he lazily repeats feminist myths. 'Men are afraid of women in power', for instance, when there are perfectly legitimate reasons to be afraid of the woman in question--or to hope that they could overcome her and steal her position of power. Misogyny also is different in many different cultures, and he ignores this to use the same tired story.
His portrayal of Mother Jones is interesting in that he calls her 'problematic' because she 'said very nasty things' about Margaret Sanger. Wherever you may stand on the abortion issue, Margaret Sanger was a eugenicist and consistently wanted to sterilize or otherwise get rid of 'human weeds'. She is not a saint, and there are perfectly legitimate reasons for disliking her, especially in the time period. People had pretty strong opinions on many things and clashed a lot. I don't know what she said about Sanger, as a Google search hasn't seemed to provide answers, but I find it incredibly biased and disingenuous that he would tell us she's bad without providing the quotes in question.
The book also runs into the common practice today of including Mothers of [Science, Art, etc.] as mothers, though this is fairly scant. My general feeling is that he should just accept that some women aren't mothers in the literal sense and that's okay. If he can't manage to scrape together enough biological and adoptive moms for this book, maybe he should have just called it Rejected Princesses, Volume II. I would expect, however, that it shouldn't be that hard to find notable mothers. As wonderful as the entry on Marsha P. Johnson was, for instance, it belonged in a Rejected Princesses book, not a Tough Mothers book.
I hope that the author is able to learn to correct his bias in writing about historical topics, because many of the folks featured are very interesting people and this book could have been much better than it was.
dnf
May 4, 2018For me the history felt dumbed down and the attempt at humor was very humorless.
August 9, 2022
1. Author has a strong liberal bias which derails some entries.
2. The writing has occasional obnoxious moments filled with modern-day slang. I don't know why all of these books end up that way.
3. But little-known cool history moms!
Overall, more enjoyable than not.
2. The writing has occasional obnoxious moments filled with modern-day slang. I don't know why all of these books end up that way.
3. But little-known cool history moms!
Overall, more enjoyable than not.
May 22, 2018
Wow! I knew of a few of the women in this volume, but many I had never heard of in my life. This is fascinating reading. The author wisely took the wind out of censors' sails by organizing the short biographies by maturity level. I'm definitely holding onto this copy since it is very personally autographed to me! (The author drew a cartoon of Joan of Arc once he learned my name!) I can see hesitating over handing this to all high school students: the Level 5 as well as the Level 4 biographies are pretty tough (emotionally) reading! However, I think this would be excellent material for a college class on Women Studies! Highly recommended for history buffs, Women Studies students, or just about anyone who wants to see the stories of histories more evenly balanced between men and women! Warning: you likely do not want to read the last few chapters (level 5) while eating!
May 27, 2018
Another nice addition to the author's body of works. Do note that being a mother was incidental to most of the heroines - they were all badass for the sake of their own self/family/nation/beliefs.
April 24, 2018
I was excited to read Tough Mothers the follow-up to Jason Porath's successful first book, Rejected Princess, detailing the unknown lives badass women in history. I enjoyed this book overall too, but I felt it was somewhat lacking in information and cohesion compared to the first one. Porath includes lots of interesting women in this book as well, leaders and diplomats and outlaws, which is all well and good; but he seemed to insert himself into the book a lot more than in the previous book, which I wasn't thrilled by. That was a criticism I had of Rejected Princesses too, that Porath had too many snarky comments and opinions that didn't fit, but in Tough Mothers it got even more annoying. I enjoyed learning about new women I hadn't heard of before, and I still have lots of research to do, but I'll admit this book wasn't as interesting to me as the first one. I still love the concept, and I appreciate the variety of the women included in Tough Mothers, but at times it seemed like Porath was grasping at straws for what to say about women who he disagreed with. Not sure if it was the mere content of the women covered in it, or if Porath's writing seemed different, but something was missing this time around.
September 25, 2018
Gorgeous artwork, fun and interesting entries, and a nice level of honesty in what can and can't be known, as well as the things we might rather not know but are still true. I appreciate all of these things. Technically, I probably did like Rejected Princesses better, but I liked this a lot.
I was also touched at the inclusion of Marsha P. Johnson. It may have seemed like a no-brainer for Porath, but a lot of people wouldn't have done it, and she nonetheless fits.
I was also touched at the inclusion of Marsha P. Johnson. It may have seemed like a no-brainer for Porath, but a lot of people wouldn't have done it, and she nonetheless fits.
March 14, 2021
Again, and amazing, influential, hilarious, well-delivered, absolutely necessary work of art. This book is just as good as the first one: Rejected Princesses. I have the utmost respect to Jason Porath for bringing these incredible women into the spotlight.
May 10, 2018
I consider myself extremely lucky for stumbling over this book. I was staying with a friend for a few nights and noticed it on her coffee table. She had loved it and invited me to read while I was visiting.
Through Porath I met many new, fascinating women. Now I MUST visit his book about “Rejected Princesses.”
This book celebrates the impact we make on the world.
Through Porath I met many new, fascinating women. Now I MUST visit his book about “Rejected Princesses.”
This book celebrates the impact we make on the world.
May 16, 2018
This book was eccentric and not in a good way. The illustrations reminded me of the ValueTales books I had as a kid, stories that introduced children to important historical figures (Louis Pasteur, Nellie Bly, etc.) which made it feel like a children's book. These pictures however were accompanied by two to four page summaries of the person profiled, which felt like research notes lightly polished for a screenplay treatment for millennials. This book does introduce the reader to 50 historic figures (some of whom are lesser known) who wouldn't get an animated princess movie, with a rough outline of what they should be known for and contains a bibliography for further reading if you are so inclined. I would rate this book 2.5 stars if Goodreads allowed half stars. I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
April 23, 2018
Just as amazing and eye-opening as I'd hoped. Please, Porath, continue this tremendous series!!! These stories take a global perspective, finding women from across the globe and throughout history and illuminating their lives and actions. Porath also brings a healthy amount of skepticism to the way these women have often been portrayed, refreshing when compared to so many people who would believe the worst of a ludicrous rumor about a woman, rather than a horrible truth about a man.
January 2, 2019
My hopes that this volume would be better than "Rejected Princesses" were fulfilled in one aspect - less mythological heroines and protagonists of unverifiable folktales and more actual people. The rest however is still like in Volume I. A writing style that feels sensationalising, too slangly and casual and tries too hard to be funny. Footnotes that don't add anything besides a "funny" commentary by the author (which really didn't suit my sense of humour to be honest) and disturbing the reading flow. Porath seems to be very excited by those women, you can tell, but the book could have used a more sober and down-to-earth way of portraying them. You can't portray a comprehensive outlook on a complex historical figure in 1 to 5 pages, but if you used less space for unrelated comments, weird and inappropriate seeming comparisons or sensationalising statements, there would have been probably a bit more space to cover more of the womens lives. Porath writes his books like you would tell the story in a casual conversation with a friend, he sounds like he is a great guy to hang out with and gush over historical figures over a glass of wine but for a book, this is something i don't like.
The overarching theme of "tough mothers" felt a bit... off. Many of the stories had nothing to do with the motherhood of the women, which is a great thing per se, however it felt like the theme was just a last minute idea on how to find a common aspect to tie all these women together. In that way it felt more like a haphazardly chosen title than an actual topic. In that way i think rejected princesses did a better job, framing the stories of heroines who would deserve a movie but probably would never get one.
All in all this book felt lacking to me, but on a more positive note however it gave me ideas on women to read up on on my own. So in that way, if Porath's writing style doesn't bother you this book might be a nice casual read to introduce you to some interesting characters.
The overarching theme of "tough mothers" felt a bit... off. Many of the stories had nothing to do with the motherhood of the women, which is a great thing per se, however it felt like the theme was just a last minute idea on how to find a common aspect to tie all these women together. In that way it felt more like a haphazardly chosen title than an actual topic. In that way i think rejected princesses did a better job, framing the stories of heroines who would deserve a movie but probably would never get one.
All in all this book felt lacking to me, but on a more positive note however it gave me ideas on women to read up on on my own. So in that way, if Porath's writing style doesn't bother you this book might be a nice casual read to introduce you to some interesting characters.
December 12, 2018
This book was not what I was expecting. I liked that I learned about 48 women I had never heard of before (only 2 of them were women that I previously knew about). While all of the mothers made a difference in the world, not all of them were role-models; some of them were actually terrible. Also, I expected "motherhood" to play a bigger role in the short biographies. Instead, the women did different things in their lives and just happened to have children at some point. The artwork was good, but confused me a little bit. It was cartoonish, but I don't feel like young children are the primary audience for this book. It just seemed like the art didn't match the book. It felt out of place to me. Nonetheless, the stories are interesting and I especially enjoyed learning about women from all over the world. I hope to learn more about a few that piqued my interest.
April 4, 2018
Looking for a Mother's Day gift idea?
Jason Porath's Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs (April 3, 2018 from Day Street/Harper Collins #partner) is "an inspiring, fully illustrated guide that brings together the fiercest mothers in history—real life matriarchs who gave everything to protect all they loved."
This fully illustrated anthology features fifty fascinating matriarchs from "all corners of the globe and span from ancient times to modern day." The Mother Who Invented Rice-A-Roni, The Mother of Rock n' Roll, and The Mothers Who Toppled a Dictatorship, are just a few tough mothers featured.
I loved Porath's previous release, Rejected Princesses, and am looking forward to many more biographical collections from him in the future.
Jason Porath's Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs (April 3, 2018 from Day Street/Harper Collins #partner) is "an inspiring, fully illustrated guide that brings together the fiercest mothers in history—real life matriarchs who gave everything to protect all they loved."
This fully illustrated anthology features fifty fascinating matriarchs from "all corners of the globe and span from ancient times to modern day." The Mother Who Invented Rice-A-Roni, The Mother of Rock n' Roll, and The Mothers Who Toppled a Dictatorship, are just a few tough mothers featured.
I loved Porath's previous release, Rejected Princesses, and am looking forward to many more biographical collections from him in the future.
December 27, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. I think I first heard of the volumes from one of my favorite podcasts and I read volume one a while back and loved the care Jason Porath put into writing these. Recently I heard more about the ERA and when Bella Abzug’s name came up it was great to bring it all the way through and connect it to what I’d seen discussed recently. As he said it’s a great starting off point about these historical people, maybe one day I can start here for inspiration when my kids have a school project.
April 13, 2019
This took me a long while but I'm not good with non fiction book. I tried to read one story every time I had to wait for my train, that's why I only finished it now. Loved it, though. God, I wish these women had been in the history books we had in school, maybe I would've paid more attention. Also, all of these women deserve their own miniseries. Oh Netflix...
October 6, 2019
Really enjoyed this one, from the pseudo-fairytale format to the varied and detailed stories. And this is coming from someone who's particularly skeptical of "started as a popular blog" tie-ins.
November 11, 2024
I enjoyed this one! There are so many wonderful, interesting, horrifying, and influential mothers in history who get glossed over or forgotten completely, and Porath brings them to light in this book. I also really enjoy his artwork!
November 27, 2022
This book sits on my coffee table with its sister, Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics, and at least once a week I pick it up and read another entry... or maybe look up to find I've spent an hour or more just randomly rifling through the Badass Mothers of History. Sometimes I'll force friends to listen to me read the entry of the day, or find myself chasing down more information on a particularly inspiring character.
April 6, 2018
Wow. I'm so glad I preordered this. While some of the entries I had read before, there was a lot that was new in this book (I mean, they were all newly in print- previous entries had simply shown up on rejectedprincesses.com). I will definitely be picking this one up again and again to reference various Matriarchs for some inspiration (or warnings- gosh!). Either way, it's always interesting to read Jason Porath- he's got a fun voice in his descriptions that keeps heavy subjects from getting too heavy or gives heavy subjects all the weight they deserve. But I think one of the greatest things about his style of writing is he acknowledges so many different sides of the story- and isn't afraid to point out that history is written by the victors and that, often, they were pretty racist, so take things with a grain of salt. Did I enjoy this as much as the first volume? I think the squeal I let out when it was delivered, when I first opened it, and when I finished it speaks for itself.
April 20, 2018
Really great book! (A little less so than the first, if only because I've read the majority of the entries on the site, I was expecting more new content.)
The amount of information in this book is just awesome. There seems to be a booming trend of "Kickass Women" books, (which is amazing, don't get me wrong), but the majority of said books put more focus on the art than the facts or writing quality.
I also really enjoy this series because the author points out some of the women's nastier qualities that most people would gloss over. (Mother Jones was racist towards the Chinese, Marie Equi was abusive, etc.)
Actual quote from the book: "All your faves are problematic."
And the book is funny, too! All-around great read.
The amount of information in this book is just awesome. There seems to be a booming trend of "Kickass Women" books, (which is amazing, don't get me wrong), but the majority of said books put more focus on the art than the facts or writing quality.
I also really enjoy this series because the author points out some of the women's nastier qualities that most people would gloss over. (Mother Jones was racist towards the Chinese, Marie Equi was abusive, etc.)
Actual quote from the book: "All your faves are problematic."
And the book is funny, too! All-around great read.
April 14, 2018
A worthy successor to Rejected Princesses.
April 12, 2018
Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History's Mightiest Matriarchs by Jason Porath turns the seemingly stereotypical mothers as only passive, gentle, and loving on its head. Instead this book pays homage to a collection of the fiercest mothers in history with real life matriarchs who gave everything to protect all they loved. In some cases, their innate fierceness of "maternal instinct" drives them to nurture, safeguard, fight, and sacrifice for the most important things that matter to them. For some it's their children, for others it's artistic expression, invention, social cause, or even giving birth to a nation. This is a companion book to
Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics
.
Porath seemingly mixes biography, imagery, and humor rather well and writes in a refreshing youthful manner. Each fifty entries are well researched and explore and elevate these fierce mothers from history and around the world. Each entry centers on one mother who all have fierce determination to change history and the world. The illustrations have an animated feeling to it and it aids and exemplifies the text rather well and for the most part each illustration captures the women in question rather well.
Furthermore, I enjoyed the fact that Porath rated each entry by maturity level and possible trigger warnings and placed it on the page before the entry. So one could read any entry knowing what to expect and parents could determine which entries they would read to their children. Although, I wished that Porath would have included these caveats on the Table of Contents for more ease of use of this system.
All in all, Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History's Mightiest Matriarchs is a wonderfully written book of a magnificent collection of mini-biographies of diverse mothers from all walks of life and from different parts of the world. It is a good read and reference book for anyone who wants to learn more about these fantastic women in history.
Porath seemingly mixes biography, imagery, and humor rather well and writes in a refreshing youthful manner. Each fifty entries are well researched and explore and elevate these fierce mothers from history and around the world. Each entry centers on one mother who all have fierce determination to change history and the world. The illustrations have an animated feeling to it and it aids and exemplifies the text rather well and for the most part each illustration captures the women in question rather well.
Furthermore, I enjoyed the fact that Porath rated each entry by maturity level and possible trigger warnings and placed it on the page before the entry. So one could read any entry knowing what to expect and parents could determine which entries they would read to their children. Although, I wished that Porath would have included these caveats on the Table of Contents for more ease of use of this system.
All in all, Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History's Mightiest Matriarchs is a wonderfully written book of a magnificent collection of mini-biographies of diverse mothers from all walks of life and from different parts of the world. It is a good read and reference book for anyone who wants to learn more about these fantastic women in history.
April 10, 2018
I loved Rejected Princesses. I loved this. There are no other words for my feelings when it comes to this book. Finally, finally there are some great books out there on the many women in history! The fact that this is one about women who are mothers and also completely kick ass makes it much better. It’s a reminder that we can be mothers as well as politicians, doctors, just women of power and change in general. I actually can’t wait to show these books to my future (theoretical) children – to show them the many different things that they can become. And even the women who have helped to pave the way for this.
I had only one small issue (if you can call it that) with this book – there are a lot of American women in these pages. Now, granted, I almost never see an Australian woman in well, anything (unless she’s some random bikini clad surfer, not sure how we got that rep)… so I wasn’t expecting to see anyone from my country in there (there were 2, I danced around my loungeroom when I read about them). But, I swear Rejected Princesses had a lot more people from the international stage than Tough Mothers. I kind of put it down to the fact that the author is American – there is a lot of amazing history there, and, really, you could write a whole book just about some of those women.
This was the perfect book for me to read while I was trying to slog through some articles for my lit review. Each entry was a quick, interesting read that helped to keep my mind engaged. It was also visually engaging and beautiful, so that made it all the more pleasant and pleasing. I’m actually really disappointed that it’s come to an end…
I had only one small issue (if you can call it that) with this book – there are a lot of American women in these pages. Now, granted, I almost never see an Australian woman in well, anything (unless she’s some random bikini clad surfer, not sure how we got that rep)… so I wasn’t expecting to see anyone from my country in there (there were 2, I danced around my loungeroom when I read about them). But, I swear Rejected Princesses had a lot more people from the international stage than Tough Mothers. I kind of put it down to the fact that the author is American – there is a lot of amazing history there, and, really, you could write a whole book just about some of those women.
This was the perfect book for me to read while I was trying to slog through some articles for my lit review. Each entry was a quick, interesting read that helped to keep my mind engaged. It was also visually engaging and beautiful, so that made it all the more pleasant and pleasing. I’m actually really disappointed that it’s come to an end…
July 11, 2018
When I heard that Jason Porath had another book coming out, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Tough Mothers, which focuses on badass mothers in history, is a bit different because it only includes women who were mothers and it does not include anyone whose existence cannot be confirmed. Like Rejected Princesses, Tough Mothers has color coded trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter so readers can decide if they will be reading the chapter. Each chapter also lets you know if it has mature content in it so that people who are reading the book with their children can skip chapters based on their kid’s age groups.
Starting each chapter with beautiful artwork, Porath has done it again and provided a wonderful book that also serves as a starting for anyone looking to learn about badass women in history that they have not heard of. From there, one can do their own research and learn about these badass ladies. He also notes when there’s conflicting stories about the person in question and urges readers to continue their own research after putting down his book. As a history buff, I enjoy when he notes some of the reasons why rumors were spread about each person and why some may have been selected to record in history.
Porath’s is skilled at mixing history, humor, and imagery, which is a clever way to catch reader’s interest. I also like that he talks a bit about the inspiration behind the artwork at the very end of almost every chapter. As a former art major, it’s always interesting to read about what an artist drew from, and in this case, what artistic liberties he took and why.
Starting each chapter with beautiful artwork, Porath has done it again and provided a wonderful book that also serves as a starting for anyone looking to learn about badass women in history that they have not heard of. From there, one can do their own research and learn about these badass ladies. He also notes when there’s conflicting stories about the person in question and urges readers to continue their own research after putting down his book. As a history buff, I enjoy when he notes some of the reasons why rumors were spread about each person and why some may have been selected to record in history.
Porath’s is skilled at mixing history, humor, and imagery, which is a clever way to catch reader’s interest. I also like that he talks a bit about the inspiration behind the artwork at the very end of almost every chapter. As a former art major, it’s always interesting to read about what an artist drew from, and in this case, what artistic liberties he took and why.
March 7, 2022
True rating= 4.5
The sequel to “Rejected Princesses” Tough Mothers explores the many women who help shaped our past and our future.
This book was shorter then it’s precursor but shares many of the same elements; from the formatting to the humour ( which admittedly isn’t for everyone but does help alleviate from the more darker elements) fans of the original will have an easy time getting into this book.
Though Porath is not a historian he does do his research, with an extensive bibliography separated by story readers can easily do more research about these women If they so choose and appendicitis that give readers a fuller context of the lives of these women. But those who study history more accurately may or may not find this book completely accurate but for average readers it’s an excellent way to learn about some of these stories for the first time.
Again this book has very heavy and dark themes in it as is common when discussing history. Readers should take caution before picking up this book and use the rating system which Porath gives readers which has warnings of the thematic elements within the stories.
I really enjoyed this book, as someone who was raised around plenty of tough women myself I loved seeing the many women who beat the odds, faced down dictatorships and who made a difference. Some of my favourite stories in this book include The Mirabal Sisters, Marsha P. Johnson, Soraya Tarzi and Man
- Deok Kim
The sequel to “Rejected Princesses” Tough Mothers explores the many women who help shaped our past and our future.
This book was shorter then it’s precursor but shares many of the same elements; from the formatting to the humour ( which admittedly isn’t for everyone but does help alleviate from the more darker elements) fans of the original will have an easy time getting into this book.
Though Porath is not a historian he does do his research, with an extensive bibliography separated by story readers can easily do more research about these women If they so choose and appendicitis that give readers a fuller context of the lives of these women. But those who study history more accurately may or may not find this book completely accurate but for average readers it’s an excellent way to learn about some of these stories for the first time.
Again this book has very heavy and dark themes in it as is common when discussing history. Readers should take caution before picking up this book and use the rating system which Porath gives readers which has warnings of the thematic elements within the stories.
I really enjoyed this book, as someone who was raised around plenty of tough women myself I loved seeing the many women who beat the odds, faced down dictatorships and who made a difference. Some of my favourite stories in this book include The Mirabal Sisters, Marsha P. Johnson, Soraya Tarzi and Man
- Deok Kim
September 9, 2020
While shorter than the previous collection (Rejected Princess), Tough Mothers is equally as enthralling and full of amazing, courageous women.
Have you ever heard about Sister Rosetta Tharpe - a black female guitarist and singer who played alongside Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway? Who helped create what would become rock and roll? Despite living and touring during the Jim Crow era?
What about Vera Peters who proved that radical mastectomy - the default treatment for breast cancer - wasn't the best option and sometimes didn't work but was rejected by the (male) medical community? That there was a better, less drastic option - oh, and that women should have a say in their treatment.
Or Mother Lu in 1st century China whose son was executed for a minor offense by a local magistrate. Mother Lu's response - raise an army and go after the magistrate (hint: she succeeded).
And that's just scratching the surface of what's in this book.
I continue to enjoy Porath's laid-back style which may not be everyone's cup of tea but I think it makes the author's enthusiasm and admiration clear and avoids any sense that he's attempting to be "the authority."
The rating and warning systems are straightforward so readers are forewarned when entries contain sensitive or violent topics and can avoid those entries if needed.
Have you ever heard about Sister Rosetta Tharpe - a black female guitarist and singer who played alongside Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway? Who helped create what would become rock and roll? Despite living and touring during the Jim Crow era?
What about Vera Peters who proved that radical mastectomy - the default treatment for breast cancer - wasn't the best option and sometimes didn't work but was rejected by the (male) medical community? That there was a better, less drastic option - oh, and that women should have a say in their treatment.
Or Mother Lu in 1st century China whose son was executed for a minor offense by a local magistrate. Mother Lu's response - raise an army and go after the magistrate (hint: she succeeded).
And that's just scratching the surface of what's in this book.
I continue to enjoy Porath's laid-back style which may not be everyone's cup of tea but I think it makes the author's enthusiasm and admiration clear and avoids any sense that he's attempting to be "the authority."
The rating and warning systems are straightforward so readers are forewarned when entries contain sensitive or violent topics and can avoid those entries if needed.
June 28, 2018
An entertaining read, highlighting women (who were mothers) doing things not expected by the culture or society of the time, resulting in change, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Some mothers became rulers, others martyrs; some are mostly forgotten while others are celebrated. But they all show the determination that only motherhood can sometimes provide.
As with his previous book, Rejected Princesses, a few pages are devoted to each of them, starting with his own illustration and followed by a write-up written by him. He tries to keep to the documented facts as much as possible but notes that history is written by the winning side: some women didn't end up winning so the stories written about them may not be true and embellished to either praise them or (more often) to denigrate them.
Still, the book contains lots of interesting stories about women (who were mothers). He prefaces each story with a key indicating the maturity and violence featured in each story so that you can avoid those if you wish.
As with his previous book, Rejected Princesses, a few pages are devoted to each of them, starting with his own illustration and followed by a write-up written by him. He tries to keep to the documented facts as much as possible but notes that history is written by the winning side: some women didn't end up winning so the stories written about them may not be true and embellished to either praise them or (more often) to denigrate them.
Still, the book contains lots of interesting stories about women (who were mothers). He prefaces each story with a key indicating the maturity and violence featured in each story so that you can avoid those if you wish.
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