Warrior Queens: True Stories of Six Ancient Rebels Who Slayed History

by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Bill Mayer (Illustrator)

The true life stories of six little-known fierce ancient warrior queens are told with humor and vivid detail by an award-winning writer.

For young readers seeking to be inspired by stories of strong women, this riveting book shines a light on six powerful ancient queens. Highlighting women warriors who ruled in ancient eras, like Hatshepsut in 1492 BCE Egypt, and Zenobia in 260 CE Palmyra, the stories span the globe to reveal the hidden histories of queens who challenged men and fought for the right to rule their queendoms. Award-winning author Vicky Alvear Shectar's lively text and acclaimed illustrator Bill Mayer's witty illustrations showcase these stories filled with history, power, and humor.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, Biography, Childrens

160 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2019

About the author

Vicky Alvear Shecter wishes she had a time machine to go back to the glory days of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Until she can find one, she writes about the famous and fabulous lives of the ancients and their gods instead. She is also a docent at the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Antiquities at Emory University.

Reviews

[jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

When was the last time you went to a museum? Get on board the train because this book will take you to one! Kinda

This book was like walking into my favorite museum of all time and getting the best tour guide and being able to listen to their guide guided tour that includes all of the research acknowledge they have compiled about the topic at hand

I love that these chapters in this book are split up. You can easily go through different time periods and see who is highlighted in each time. And it's a lot easier to keep track of in reference due to that.

I love that there was a lot of humor thrown in

There are also photos of that you can reference

What I love the most about this because it was accessible, and I could read this and understand factually what was happening to the point where I was utilizing Wikipedia as an additional supplemental resource and it was a full experience of me being able to do additional research online while using the book as a guide

This book was done so well, so if you want to learn a general history of female warriors and a bigger picture of pirates and all of that, I would definitely recommend getting this one

I'm gonna see if I can purchase this one just to have on my shelves because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it so much

Not only do I feel like I have the information I was looking for before reading this book and I'm satisfied now, but I also feel like I have the resources to do further learning on the topic as well and that is the type of empowerment that a non-fiction book can give you and I'm really excited and happy that this one managed to do that for me

This is also definitely a book that I think is friendly for all ages although you don't wanna read this to your four-year-old because there's violence in it obviously so parents please don't give your child this I would read it to them instead

Thank you to the libraries for spoiling me with this one

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyment Rating: 3🌟
Writing Quality: 3🌟

In this non-fiction, middle grade read, we learn of six ancient queens. Each fierce and intelligent and seemingly fearless. Each fighting for their people and doing so in such a powerful way that they beat the odds and carved permanent names for themselves in the pages of history. I had known of two of them before - Boudica and Zenobia - but the names of the others had never before crossed my path, and so I'm glad this book fell into my hands. The writing was definitely meant for younger readers. It's tone was not formal and stuff, if anything it had maybe a few too many puns. If this had been an adult book that would have irked me, but I think it makes sense when trying to inspire and intrigue the younger folk.

[Dennis Steussy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This easy to read book has such great warrior queens as Boudicca or Britian, Hatshepsut of Egypt and The Trung Sisters of Vietnam. It is a short biography of six remarkable warrior queens from world history. It includes side notes about each queen and the times they lived in. At the end of each section you get some chapter note at summarizes and recaps highlights of each biography If you are looking for an easy to read and informative book about some of th great warrior queens of history, I think you will find this book very enjoyable.

[Kie Frost · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
This book was a really good introduction for people around the age of late middle school. I personally felt it was too young for myself, and wasn't a fan of all the puns, but if I had a niece/nephew who was maybe thirteen and interested in female warriors who were queens, I would definitely recommend the book.

[Tee Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book its super inspirational. I see myself in every one of these women! Women have been running countries for centuries. We are the bringers of life, why wouldnt we be able to?
This is a true gem.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I loved learning about the kickass women in this book, most whose stories I had never heard of before, sadly. There were MANY groan-worthy puns sprinkled throughout the book though, and that kind of dampened the enjoyment of it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book about some of the women warriors of history. A good middle school read.