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Strong Women: 15 Biographies of Influential Women History Overlooked
Celebrate, share, and take to heart the unsung accomplishments of these unflappable strong women
There are so many more incredible women throughout history than you’ve been taught. You might know some of the most famous and rebellious, but this is your chance to get to know 15 equally powerful strong women who quietly broke barriers and made a lasting impact.
From 10th-century novelist Murasaki Shikibu to 19th-century self-made millionaire Madam C.J. Walker, you’ll learn about the early life, struggles, and successes of the innovators, changemakers, and ceiling-breakers who redefined what strong women were allowed to be. Even if they never became household names.
Strong Women will show you
Ordinary is extraordinary—Find hope and inspiration in the stories of women who worked in every field and every part of the world, throughout all of history.Dig deep—These biographies are brief and easy to read but include enough detail to present each woman as a complete personality, without shying away from the tough stuff. Always remember—Uncover why so many of these stories were lost to history, and how you can help keep them alive.Discover the quiet power of 15 strong women who changed the world as you know it.
There are so many more incredible women throughout history than you’ve been taught. You might know some of the most famous and rebellious, but this is your chance to get to know 15 equally powerful strong women who quietly broke barriers and made a lasting impact.
From 10th-century novelist Murasaki Shikibu to 19th-century self-made millionaire Madam C.J. Walker, you’ll learn about the early life, struggles, and successes of the innovators, changemakers, and ceiling-breakers who redefined what strong women were allowed to be. Even if they never became household names.
Strong Women will show you
Ordinary is extraordinary—Find hope and inspiration in the stories of women who worked in every field and every part of the world, throughout all of history.Dig deep—These biographies are brief and easy to read but include enough detail to present each woman as a complete personality, without shying away from the tough stuff. Always remember—Uncover why so many of these stories were lost to history, and how you can help keep them alive.Discover the quiet power of 15 strong women who changed the world as you know it.
168 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2020
42 people are currently reading
404 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 15, 2025
Ahhh, I just absolutely LOVED this book.
I learned from these 15 women is that ordinary women are extraordinary, and they always have been.
- Murasaki Shikibu -
Murasaki was likely chosen because of her literary skills, which would have been highly valued at court.Murasaki lived in 10th-century Japan and is well-known for her literary contributions. Her true name is no longer remembered but her works will never be forgotten.
- Alice Guy-Blaché -
But she couldn't resist the lure of the studio and decided to resume filmaking.The film industry wasn't always so starkly gender-divided, in fact one of the most influential filmakers in history was Alice Guy-Blaché. While not all of her films survive, the ones that did are treasured.
- Ada Lovelace -
Ada Lovelace was born into a family of nobility, privilege, and plenty of scandal...While she was born the daughter the great poet (and wild homewrecker) Lord Byron, she became known on her own for her genius and as the first computer programmer (in the Victorian era)!
- Mary Blaire -
Mary used bright colors with basic lines to give the film a rich lushness on a budget, and also brought modernity into styling the costumes.Mary was one of Disney's favorite creators -she worked on Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and more.
- Ida B. Wells -
Ida entered the world on July 16, 1862, the first child of two slavesShe was born during the Civil War and became a free woman. Always outspoken, she became a journalist and spoke out for civil liberties and equalities throughout the rest of her life.
- Mitsuye Endo -
But the case could have disappeared at any second with only a word from Mitsuye. And yet, when offered freedom...she voluntarily remained locked up.Mitsuye, along with thousands of Japanese-Americans and others were interred in detention camps during one of the most shameful of moments during America's history. And Mitsuye was brave enough to stand up and change the fates of thousands.
- Policarpa Salavarrieta -
She was known to be smart and outspoken, and she strongly believed in the cause of independence.During a revolution in present-day Colombia, Policarpa became a rebel and helped fight against the Spanish tyranny. She became a national treasure and a symbol for the future.
- The Trung Sisters -
In 40 CE, the Trung sisters declared themselves joint queens of Vietnam...During a time where women were expected to stay behind and care for the home, the Trung Sisters raised (and led) an army of 80,000 men and women against the aristocracy. While their movement was not permanent, they became immortalized in Vietnam's history.
- Marsha P. Johnson -
Marsha...used she/her pronouns. But most of all, Marsha said, "I think of myself as me."Marsha had a very, very difficult time growing up in New York during the 1960s - she was one of the leaders of the gay liberation movements at Stonewall and became a staunch supporter and demonstrator of LGBTQ+ rights.
- Elizabeth Jennings -
When the men let go of Elizabeth, she got right back in the streetcar.Before Rosa Parks became famous for her bus protests, Elizabeth Jennings conducted her own sit-in. She protested and opposed racism for years - eventually helping change America.
- Madame C.J. Walker -
Madame saw a future in hairdressing.Madame C.J. Walker's career in hairdressing created a movement that swept across the nation and truly made a long, and lasting change.
- María Teresa Ferrari de Gaudino -
It was rare for women to attend university, let alone medical school, and to work, so it was quite unusual for a women to do both simultaneously.María was the first women professor in Latin America and she profoundly influenced and opened the doors for many women to come.
- Kate Warne -
Sometimes you just have to apply for the job you want, even if you can't fill the usual requirements.Kate became the first female detective when she joined the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. She rightly told them that there are some jobs that only a woman can do. She was essential for many undercover cases and provided essential information that would not have been gathered without her.
- Funmilayo Rabsine-Kuti -
The women weren't done, however. On January 3, 1949, they succeeded in getting the Alake to abdicate his rule and force him into exile.Funmilayo first stood up against society when she was a child - attending elementary school during a time where girls were highly encouraged not to go. She later went on found a Nigerian political party and kick start the women's suffrage movement.
- Eunice Newton Foote -
Eunice had studied the warming effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In other words, she discovered the greenhouse effect and the potential for global warming - in 1856.A stunningly brilliant mind trapped in a time where women were automatically believed to be intellectually inferior. She showed them.
- Overall Thoughts -
I really enjoyed this book!
I loved that Koeppel chose women who truly were forgotten (or at least overlooked) by history. Out of the fifteen women, I had only heard of two before (and didn't quite know them too well).
In the intro, she talks a little about how difficult it was to narrow down to JUST fifteen women - but she also snuck in plenty of 1 to 2 page profiles of other notable women in there (which I quite liked!).
The illustrations of these women were absolutely gorgeous and really brought this book up to a perfect 5 stars!
All in all, this was a fabulous biography book and I cannot wait to learn more about these wonderful women.
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April 8, 2020
It’s the best book I’ve ever written!
May 20, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Koeppel’s book Strong Women. I had only heard of four of these fifteen women, so the book really delivers on its promise to introduce you to some interesting and inspiring “innovators,” “change-makers,” and “ceiling-breakers” who never became household names. While it is not intended to be a comprehensive collection of all of the amazing overlooked women in history, it offers an impressive array of diversity in this list of 15, spanning five continents and over 2000 years. Some might say the scale feels a little disorienting, with someone like Mary Blair immediately following Murasaki Shikibu, but I think that the zoom-in zoom-out effect is intentional and a huge charm of this book.
For me, the most memorable chapters were those that focused on women who had achieved almost mythical status in their native land, like the Trung Sisters of Vietnam and Policarpa Salavarrieta of Colombia. They may not be household names here in the U.S. but they are in their home country. They were warriors a lá Joan of Arc — but my dismally Euro-centric education didn’t include them. I’m so happy to know about them now. And while we’re on the topic of Joan, reading this book actually reminded me of the experience of being a kid and reading these really old books of the Catholic saints. When reading those books, I loved the dramatic stories and artist renderings, and being able to catch a glimpse into another time and place, then turn the page and be transported somewhere new (but, let’s be honest, mostly within medieval Europe). Koeppel’s bios offer a similar experience -- she gives us enough to feel thoroughly informed and spark some curiosity to learn more before moving on to the next lady. (I’m particularly interested in reading more about Elizabeth Jennings and Kate Warne.) It makes me happy to think of today’s young girls reading more books like Koeppel’s and sparking curiosity about today’s cultural saints and icons: Ida B. Wells, Marsha P. Johnson, etc.
Some of the strongest moments in these mini-bios are when the woman gets the chance to speak for herself. Koeppel carefully selected powerful and representative quotes from each woman. I would have liked to see even more of this primary source material as these were the moments when the women really jumped off the page for me.
I think the biggest compliment I could pay this book is that it reminded me of my own dreams. Reading these stories reminded me that the majority of my story is still ahead of me. I thought a lot about my own talents and what I want to do with them!
Lastly! Bonus: this book informed me that Chester A. Arthur… existed. Have YOU ever heard of Chester A. Arthur?? Thank you Kari Koeppel for inadvertently introducing me to the president-that-history-overlooked.
For me, the most memorable chapters were those that focused on women who had achieved almost mythical status in their native land, like the Trung Sisters of Vietnam and Policarpa Salavarrieta of Colombia. They may not be household names here in the U.S. but they are in their home country. They were warriors a lá Joan of Arc — but my dismally Euro-centric education didn’t include them. I’m so happy to know about them now. And while we’re on the topic of Joan, reading this book actually reminded me of the experience of being a kid and reading these really old books of the Catholic saints. When reading those books, I loved the dramatic stories and artist renderings, and being able to catch a glimpse into another time and place, then turn the page and be transported somewhere new (but, let’s be honest, mostly within medieval Europe). Koeppel’s bios offer a similar experience -- she gives us enough to feel thoroughly informed and spark some curiosity to learn more before moving on to the next lady. (I’m particularly interested in reading more about Elizabeth Jennings and Kate Warne.) It makes me happy to think of today’s young girls reading more books like Koeppel’s and sparking curiosity about today’s cultural saints and icons: Ida B. Wells, Marsha P. Johnson, etc.
Some of the strongest moments in these mini-bios are when the woman gets the chance to speak for herself. Koeppel carefully selected powerful and representative quotes from each woman. I would have liked to see even more of this primary source material as these were the moments when the women really jumped off the page for me.
I think the biggest compliment I could pay this book is that it reminded me of my own dreams. Reading these stories reminded me that the majority of my story is still ahead of me. I thought a lot about my own talents and what I want to do with them!
Lastly! Bonus: this book informed me that Chester A. Arthur… existed. Have YOU ever heard of Chester A. Arthur?? Thank you Kari Koeppel for inadvertently introducing me to the president-that-history-overlooked.
May 28, 2020
This was a great short read to show how women have always been an important part of history, even if their stories had been mostly forgotten. Each narrative account of these women’s lives gives you just enough information to want to go out and find more books about them. I had only heard of a few of these women before reading this book, and I appreciated the breadth and depth of history that Koeppel covers in her choice of women to write about.
Kate Warne’s life particularly surprised me - I mean, a female detective who played a hand in saving Abraham Lincoln’s life by pretending he was her invalid brother, how cool is that and how did I not learn about this before?!
I am definitely going to explore more books about these women, and I am excited that future generations of young women will be able to read this book as an introduction to their own history.
Kate Warne’s life particularly surprised me - I mean, a female detective who played a hand in saving Abraham Lincoln’s life by pretending he was her invalid brother, how cool is that and how did I not learn about this before?!
I am definitely going to explore more books about these women, and I am excited that future generations of young women will be able to read this book as an introduction to their own history.
June 7, 2020
I love that these biographies are short and sweet. So easy to read and I loved learning these stories about women who have been overlooked by history. Kari paints such a poignant story for each woman, and the illustrations are to die for! Highly recommend!
May 11, 2020
I received an advance digital copy of this work from Callisto Media in exchange for an honest review.
Sometimes, I feel as though the phrase “strong women” oversimplifies the work that women have to do to be recognized in a heavily male-dominated world - it seems like that blanket term ignores the complexity of the tenacity, bravery, and hard work that it takes for women to break the glass ceilings that box them in. Sometimes it feels like it boils down the fight for women’s rights into an image of angry, red-faced women whose way of fighting is as blunt and ridiculous as male-dominatedd mass media makes feminists out to be.
In Kari Koeppel’s Strong Women: 15 Biographies of Influential Women History Overlooked, the phrase does anything but that.
Strong Women is Koeppel’s first published work, and focuses on the lives of fifteen women across history whose stories have otherwise been erased from the mainstream narrative. Featuring well-rounded biographies and illustrations by Roberta Oriano, Koeppel highlights women whose contributions to history have shaped the way our society functions, but have largely been written out of their own stories, in favor of husbands, fathers, brothers, or coworkers. These women speak to the angry feminist in me, to the part of me struggling with bricks and a metaphorical Molotov cocktail to break the glass keeping me from whatever it is the patriarchy says I can’t have because of my gender. Some I knew of, and some are new to me, and as of today, Koeppel’s collection of them is now high on my list of recommended reads.
Strong Women covers three subsets of women within its pages: innovators, change-makers, and ceiling breakers. The range within these sections - from activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti to mathematics genius Ada Lovelace - is surprisingly diverse, branching away from the typical whitewashed #girlboss lists I’ve seen in other collections of “strong women”. Ten of the fifteen women are women of colors, seven are non-American, and the list as a whole covers fields from activism and politics to art, STEM, and entrepreneurship. Some women are better known than others, but narrowing the field to fifteen women is enough to prove that women can dominate in any field without simplifying them down to a pretty illustration and a fact box. (This is an issue I have with, for example, Bad Girls Throughout History, which focuses so much on quantity over quality that it erases the actual women themselves, making it seem like putting Bonnie Parker and Margaret Thatcher next to Lucille Ball and Rosa Parks is no big deal.)
Koeppel chose her subjects carefully (though she apparently had an initial list of over two hundred potential candidates, which I would love to see), and the careful research put into each six to ten page biography shines through in their profiles. Koeppel’s history as head of research for Buzzfeed makes her perfectly equipped to surmise exactly what makes each woman special, without being too heavy-handed or too sparse. The fight for women’s rights is an ugly, difficult thing, and that is precisely what makes the women she chose strong.
The tone of the writing stutters in places, and perhaps oversimplifies some elements of the womens’ narratives (the Mary Blair section had some simple information that directly conflicted with other accounts I’d read, for example) - but fitting the lives of fifteen separate women into a hundred and fifty pages is no easy task, and I commend Koeppel for fitting in as much as she did.
Her narrative opens up the door to the lives of women many have never heard of without making them perfect, unmarred martyrs for the cause of women’s equality, an issue often created to make women’s stories more palatable to a general audience. (Read: to men.) Women are complicated, emotional, diverse human beings as much as men are, and to include evidence of the less-than-desirable moments in their lives displays that fact in a way that is sorely needed. Women should not deserve accolades solely when they are perfect examples of grace, goodness, and kindness - because no human being could possibly be that, and Koeppel’s book proves it.
Strong Women is the perfect coffee table book for the angry feminist (like me), or for the parents of girls who want them to know they can achieve whatever it is they set their minds to. Koeppel has proven herself to be a writer that I trust, and I sincerely hope to see more work from her soon.
Sometimes, I feel as though the phrase “strong women” oversimplifies the work that women have to do to be recognized in a heavily male-dominated world - it seems like that blanket term ignores the complexity of the tenacity, bravery, and hard work that it takes for women to break the glass ceilings that box them in. Sometimes it feels like it boils down the fight for women’s rights into an image of angry, red-faced women whose way of fighting is as blunt and ridiculous as male-dominatedd mass media makes feminists out to be.
In Kari Koeppel’s Strong Women: 15 Biographies of Influential Women History Overlooked, the phrase does anything but that.
Strong Women is Koeppel’s first published work, and focuses on the lives of fifteen women across history whose stories have otherwise been erased from the mainstream narrative. Featuring well-rounded biographies and illustrations by Roberta Oriano, Koeppel highlights women whose contributions to history have shaped the way our society functions, but have largely been written out of their own stories, in favor of husbands, fathers, brothers, or coworkers. These women speak to the angry feminist in me, to the part of me struggling with bricks and a metaphorical Molotov cocktail to break the glass keeping me from whatever it is the patriarchy says I can’t have because of my gender. Some I knew of, and some are new to me, and as of today, Koeppel’s collection of them is now high on my list of recommended reads.
Strong Women covers three subsets of women within its pages: innovators, change-makers, and ceiling breakers. The range within these sections - from activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti to mathematics genius Ada Lovelace - is surprisingly diverse, branching away from the typical whitewashed #girlboss lists I’ve seen in other collections of “strong women”. Ten of the fifteen women are women of colors, seven are non-American, and the list as a whole covers fields from activism and politics to art, STEM, and entrepreneurship. Some women are better known than others, but narrowing the field to fifteen women is enough to prove that women can dominate in any field without simplifying them down to a pretty illustration and a fact box. (This is an issue I have with, for example, Bad Girls Throughout History, which focuses so much on quantity over quality that it erases the actual women themselves, making it seem like putting Bonnie Parker and Margaret Thatcher next to Lucille Ball and Rosa Parks is no big deal.)
Koeppel chose her subjects carefully (though she apparently had an initial list of over two hundred potential candidates, which I would love to see), and the careful research put into each six to ten page biography shines through in their profiles. Koeppel’s history as head of research for Buzzfeed makes her perfectly equipped to surmise exactly what makes each woman special, without being too heavy-handed or too sparse. The fight for women’s rights is an ugly, difficult thing, and that is precisely what makes the women she chose strong.
The tone of the writing stutters in places, and perhaps oversimplifies some elements of the womens’ narratives (the Mary Blair section had some simple information that directly conflicted with other accounts I’d read, for example) - but fitting the lives of fifteen separate women into a hundred and fifty pages is no easy task, and I commend Koeppel for fitting in as much as she did.
Her narrative opens up the door to the lives of women many have never heard of without making them perfect, unmarred martyrs for the cause of women’s equality, an issue often created to make women’s stories more palatable to a general audience. (Read: to men.) Women are complicated, emotional, diverse human beings as much as men are, and to include evidence of the less-than-desirable moments in their lives displays that fact in a way that is sorely needed. Women should not deserve accolades solely when they are perfect examples of grace, goodness, and kindness - because no human being could possibly be that, and Koeppel’s book proves it.
Strong Women is the perfect coffee table book for the angry feminist (like me), or for the parents of girls who want them to know they can achieve whatever it is they set their minds to. Koeppel has proven herself to be a writer that I trust, and I sincerely hope to see more work from her soon.
May 18, 2020
While I love a good memoir, I am usually very reluctant to read biographies. This compilation of mini-biographies was the perfect thing to whet my interest! I like to consider myself pretty up on feminist icons, but I had never heard of most of these women, and for the others I could fit everything I know about them into a few sentences. So I definitely learned a lot! The women included cover a broad range of geographies and time periods. Some of my favorite facts:
* Ada Lovelace is the daughter of Lord Byron???? How did I not know this?????
* Kate Werne, the first female detective, went undercover as a Southern Belle. As Matt can attest, I have long wanted to go undercover as a Southern Belle. I've been practicing my accent for years. I am not joking. I love knowing someone out there actually did it, and did it to help bring down the Confederacy.
* Ida B Wells was a biter. I died. I've always meant to get more into Ida B Wells and her work, but as I mentioned above, I am slow to pick up biographies. But getting this short overview and finding out that she BIT a train conductor trying to kick her out of first class got me hype enough to learn more about her. So this book did it's job!
For a long time, my favorite male historical figures (ppl like Alcibiades and Ben Franklin) have been adventurous, slutty, ingenious and genre defying. Meanwhile, my fave women usually have a Hermione-esque single-minded dedication to their education and profession. I picked this book up hoping to expand my ideas of what women can be. Learning about the Trung Sisters taking up arms against Chinese colonizers or Policarpa smuggling messages through the Colombian jungle scratched that itch, but all of these women worked towards equality and freedom. I feel like we don't always leave room for women to be delectable villains. After reading about a bunch of awesome women who I would totally put up a poster of with #goals, I wanted to see a woman be outlandishly selfish, hedonistic and downright naughty. I would have closed it with a pirate or something. But I guess that would be a different volume.
Overall, a quick, entertaining and educational read! The gorgeous illustrations really put it over the top for me.
* Ada Lovelace is the daughter of Lord Byron???? How did I not know this?????
* Kate Werne, the first female detective, went undercover as a Southern Belle. As Matt can attest, I have long wanted to go undercover as a Southern Belle. I've been practicing my accent for years. I am not joking. I love knowing someone out there actually did it, and did it to help bring down the Confederacy.
* Ida B Wells was a biter. I died. I've always meant to get more into Ida B Wells and her work, but as I mentioned above, I am slow to pick up biographies. But getting this short overview and finding out that she BIT a train conductor trying to kick her out of first class got me hype enough to learn more about her. So this book did it's job!
For a long time, my favorite male historical figures (ppl like Alcibiades and Ben Franklin) have been adventurous, slutty, ingenious and genre defying. Meanwhile, my fave women usually have a Hermione-esque single-minded dedication to their education and profession. I picked this book up hoping to expand my ideas of what women can be. Learning about the Trung Sisters taking up arms against Chinese colonizers or Policarpa smuggling messages through the Colombian jungle scratched that itch, but all of these women worked towards equality and freedom. I feel like we don't always leave room for women to be delectable villains. After reading about a bunch of awesome women who I would totally put up a poster of with #goals, I wanted to see a woman be outlandishly selfish, hedonistic and downright naughty. I would have closed it with a pirate or something. But I guess that would be a different volume.
Overall, a quick, entertaining and educational read! The gorgeous illustrations really put it over the top for me.
May 13, 2020
In the last eighteen hours since I’ve finished Strong Women I can feel myself verging on annoying to those around me, talking about and telling the stories of these women. I devoured this book. The stories and Kari's writing are both engaging and concise so its really accessible and easy to enjoy. I tend to fall into books and I can’t do anything else for a while, or else they sit and languish for long periods of time when I have time to actually engage with them, but this book was great because each story was like a quick morsel of lady-joy and then back to my regular day feeling a bit uplifted.
I especially loved learning about their work and achievements written alongside their stories as mothers, partners and the other relationships and associations they had with more well-known historical figures because you get a real sense of them: their strength, their resourcefulness and their character. Even if they weren’t remembered or recognized for their achievements until much later, often not in their lifetimes - you feel their significance in the anecdotes of their influence on other historical figures, or how their children also grew up to be amazing humans who carried on their work and values. And while it’s really important that we examine our history, where value and power is perceived (and WHY don't we know these stories already) in order to do better in the present and future, in the end this book made me hopeful that there is lot you can do just by living a full life. These women make me want to be brave. Thank you for highlighting their stories; it was a delight to read.
I especially loved learning about their work and achievements written alongside their stories as mothers, partners and the other relationships and associations they had with more well-known historical figures because you get a real sense of them: their strength, their resourcefulness and their character. Even if they weren’t remembered or recognized for their achievements until much later, often not in their lifetimes - you feel their significance in the anecdotes of their influence on other historical figures, or how their children also grew up to be amazing humans who carried on their work and values. And while it’s really important that we examine our history, where value and power is perceived (and WHY don't we know these stories already) in order to do better in the present and future, in the end this book made me hopeful that there is lot you can do just by living a full life. These women make me want to be brave. Thank you for highlighting their stories; it was a delight to read.
August 12, 2020
A fantastic first book from Kari Koeppel. I had some knowledge about some of these women, but most I hadn’t heard of. What a shame that is, and what a gift to history and their legacy Kari has created. I highly recommend this book. It should be required reading in schools that don’t otherwise cover these contributions...which, sadly, is most of them. Deeply researched, smooth flow, well organized. Great book.
April 1, 2022
A wonderful read on just a few of history's overlooked sheroes
September 7, 2020
Really enjoyed this book. Nice mix of women I’d heard of and mostly those I was not familiar with. Women from across the globe and many different roles/accomplishments.
March 26, 2024
***Warning: Due to some information about these women some of these entries can be questionable subjects to much younger readers.***
When the main faces on the cover are all people of color, the book is published around this timeframe and the the arms on the back cover are in the black power salute then the smart reader starts to get antsy about the content they will find.
Strong Women did start off rather rockily with me given to the silliness of the author's beliefs that were mentioned in her Introduction. She mentions that she is a researcher who has been blown away by her finds since apparently the patriarchy has been hard at work erasing history and yet she found over 200 women of note, which to me just mentions that you dear aren't willing to research history on your own and learn about the people who helped to contribute to your spot now as a human. And even though history hasn't been kind to some women and their contributions it is more likely your own ignorance that has kept you in the dark about these women instead of the patriarchy, especially as has been portrayed when you were going through talking about how boring these women seemed after their main contributions, which is why they may need to be cut from the resulting 15 choices.
She uses the fact of male domination by stating that being married filed jointly offers more tax breaks as a perk for those who follow the male-dominated law of the land instead of feminism although not at all pointing out you can be a single parent while getting also higher breaks or credits than if you are married filing jointly with no children or single.
And from there the author makes sure to liberally scatter throughout the text her feminist and racially virtue talking points to join with the rest of the Woke literature that has come out during this time thus it isn't at all surprising. And that is why I was rather surprised that she was rather honest about mentioning the Democratic party was a party of white supremacists and that the anti-lynching law came out in 2020 (not the year of Obama which would have made more sense for a law of such significance).
Otherwise the book is broken up into three sections that divides the women into innovators, change-makers and ceiling breakers. As for the women included there were at least three that probably shouldn't have been included in the book since the book is suppose to be about women that history has overlooked while right now there is a renaissance for at least Ada Lovelace, Mary Blair and even Ida B. Wells who seem to have had bunches of books published about them at this point although I must say that Kari does include rather more information about them then the few books I have picked up about those women.
And then the most beautiful hypocrisy of all by including an actual gay man in this book who never claimed that he was a trans woman. Why? Is it just because he liked to dress as drag in dresses? Really, Ms. Koeppel, you actually chose to take away one of those coveted spots for women that history has overlooked for the same patriarchy that you have deemed to point out is so horrible while still stating you are a self-proclaimed feminist. So how did you allow this to slip in? It's just terrible....
As mentioned by another person there are a bunch of spelling mistakes that are included in the book such as need a "mail cosignor" that gave a bit of a few giggles to break up the fact that I am shaking my head at the same time.
Otherwise if you don't mind overlooking the Woke aspects that shove LGBT, racism and sexism in your face you will most definitely find some interesting actual women in this book and their contributions to history. Just a shame they have to make way for the patriarchy in their accolades.
**I received a free copy of this book through the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
When the main faces on the cover are all people of color, the book is published around this timeframe and the the arms on the back cover are in the black power salute then the smart reader starts to get antsy about the content they will find.
Strong Women did start off rather rockily with me given to the silliness of the author's beliefs that were mentioned in her Introduction. She mentions that she is a researcher who has been blown away by her finds since apparently the patriarchy has been hard at work erasing history and yet she found over 200 women of note, which to me just mentions that you dear aren't willing to research history on your own and learn about the people who helped to contribute to your spot now as a human. And even though history hasn't been kind to some women and their contributions it is more likely your own ignorance that has kept you in the dark about these women instead of the patriarchy, especially as has been portrayed when you were going through talking about how boring these women seemed after their main contributions, which is why they may need to be cut from the resulting 15 choices.
She uses the fact of male domination by stating that being married filed jointly offers more tax breaks as a perk for those who follow the male-dominated law of the land instead of feminism although not at all pointing out you can be a single parent while getting also higher breaks or credits than if you are married filing jointly with no children or single.
And from there the author makes sure to liberally scatter throughout the text her feminist and racially virtue talking points to join with the rest of the Woke literature that has come out during this time thus it isn't at all surprising. And that is why I was rather surprised that she was rather honest about mentioning the Democratic party was a party of white supremacists and that the anti-lynching law came out in 2020 (not the year of Obama which would have made more sense for a law of such significance).
Otherwise the book is broken up into three sections that divides the women into innovators, change-makers and ceiling breakers. As for the women included there were at least three that probably shouldn't have been included in the book since the book is suppose to be about women that history has overlooked while right now there is a renaissance for at least Ada Lovelace, Mary Blair and even Ida B. Wells who seem to have had bunches of books published about them at this point although I must say that Kari does include rather more information about them then the few books I have picked up about those women.
And then the most beautiful hypocrisy of all by including an actual gay man in this book who never claimed that he was a trans woman. Why? Is it just because he liked to dress as drag in dresses? Really, Ms. Koeppel, you actually chose to take away one of those coveted spots for women that history has overlooked for the same patriarchy that you have deemed to point out is so horrible while still stating you are a self-proclaimed feminist. So how did you allow this to slip in? It's just terrible....
As mentioned by another person there are a bunch of spelling mistakes that are included in the book such as need a "mail cosignor" that gave a bit of a few giggles to break up the fact that I am shaking my head at the same time.
Otherwise if you don't mind overlooking the Woke aspects that shove LGBT, racism and sexism in your face you will most definitely find some interesting actual women in this book and their contributions to history. Just a shame they have to make way for the patriarchy in their accolades.
**I received a free copy of this book through the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
January 5, 2024
This has been on my wish list for about two years now, and I finally received a copy of it for Christmas. I first heard about this work via Puppet University Online, which is a series of emails you could sign up for from the YouTube content creator channel of Watcher Entertainment, where after each episode of their show Puppet History you get an email that gives you a more in-depth look at the personage or event the most recent episode discussed. A good number of those emails were written by their lead researcher, Kari Koeppel, who is also the author of this monograph, and it is not unusual to see a quick plug put in for this book toward the end of the emails.
Naturally, that means a few of the people you can read about in this book are personages of historical significance that have shown up in Puppet History in recent seasons. Viewers of that illustrious programme will recognise key names such as Kate Warne, the Trung Sisters, and Policarpa Salavarrieta. While it would be easy to think that already knowing these women's stories would make those chapters a slog, it really doesn't. While some of the information is basically the narrative you can see played out in puppetry on Puppet History, there are also some key context and tidbits that are only discussed within the monograph. (Mainly because they weren't connected to whichever event was being discussed on the show.)
What holds this book back from being 4 or 5 stars are just three logistical things. 1) There are quite a few typos. While I accept that it's impossible to make a book with absolutely none, there were a noticeable amount and they usually weren't too far apart from each other. For instance, in the chapter on Madam C.J. Walker, her daughter Lelia is mentioned quite a bit as well. But almost every other time Lelia is mentioned, her name is written as "Leila." It happened so frequently that I wasn't sure which was actually her correct name and had to look it up. It's not the worst problem one can come across in a non-fiction work (as the worst problem in that genre is misinformation), but the book overall could have done with a few more people looking over it for proofreading notes. 2) There is no bibliography or suggested reading at the back of the book. As a researcher myself, this is something that always gives me pause when I read non-fiction work. When I can't find any research notes, I'm just always left feeling as though the writer might have only looked at a Wikipedia article. (I'm just overly suspicious like that.) And this ties in a bit to problem number 3) these are good introductions to 15 less talked about women, but they are just that: introductions. It does feel a bit like reading a Wikipedia article. That's not really any fault of Koeppel's because I think that's all she's setting out to write here -- an introduction to let her readers hear about 15 women they likely didn't learn about in school that they can then research more on their own if they want to do -- but I can't help it. I was hoping for a little bit more to sink my teeth into here. But I will admit that I am likely not Koeppel's targeted audience, which I suspect is more of a teen demographic that is just starting out in the great world of researching people and events they won't be hearing about in their Eurocentric education. This is a starter pack, not an expert level competition deck. (And when did I start writing my review in metaphors? Ugh.)
ANYWAY, long story short, this book is a good starter for anyone who is curious about history that isn't as widely discussed in Western schools (particularly at middle school or high school level), and if you're a fan of Puppet History, I do recommend checking this out and supporting one of the key players in the storytelling that has made that show so successful.
Naturally, that means a few of the people you can read about in this book are personages of historical significance that have shown up in Puppet History in recent seasons. Viewers of that illustrious programme will recognise key names such as Kate Warne, the Trung Sisters, and Policarpa Salavarrieta. While it would be easy to think that already knowing these women's stories would make those chapters a slog, it really doesn't. While some of the information is basically the narrative you can see played out in puppetry on Puppet History, there are also some key context and tidbits that are only discussed within the monograph. (Mainly because they weren't connected to whichever event was being discussed on the show.)
What holds this book back from being 4 or 5 stars are just three logistical things. 1) There are quite a few typos. While I accept that it's impossible to make a book with absolutely none, there were a noticeable amount and they usually weren't too far apart from each other. For instance, in the chapter on Madam C.J. Walker, her daughter Lelia is mentioned quite a bit as well. But almost every other time Lelia is mentioned, her name is written as "Leila." It happened so frequently that I wasn't sure which was actually her correct name and had to look it up. It's not the worst problem one can come across in a non-fiction work (as the worst problem in that genre is misinformation), but the book overall could have done with a few more people looking over it for proofreading notes. 2) There is no bibliography or suggested reading at the back of the book. As a researcher myself, this is something that always gives me pause when I read non-fiction work. When I can't find any research notes, I'm just always left feeling as though the writer might have only looked at a Wikipedia article. (I'm just overly suspicious like that.) And this ties in a bit to problem number 3) these are good introductions to 15 less talked about women, but they are just that: introductions. It does feel a bit like reading a Wikipedia article. That's not really any fault of Koeppel's because I think that's all she's setting out to write here -- an introduction to let her readers hear about 15 women they likely didn't learn about in school that they can then research more on their own if they want to do -- but I can't help it. I was hoping for a little bit more to sink my teeth into here. But I will admit that I am likely not Koeppel's targeted audience, which I suspect is more of a teen demographic that is just starting out in the great world of researching people and events they won't be hearing about in their Eurocentric education. This is a starter pack, not an expert level competition deck. (And when did I start writing my review in metaphors? Ugh.)
ANYWAY, long story short, this book is a good starter for anyone who is curious about history that isn't as widely discussed in Western schools (particularly at middle school or high school level), and if you're a fan of Puppet History, I do recommend checking this out and supporting one of the key players in the storytelling that has made that show so successful.
June 16, 2020
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. Divided into three sections: The Innovators, The Change-Makers, and The Ceiling Breakers, this book covers women who were influential in world history but may or may not have been well-known. The 16 women featured in this volume are Murasaki Shikibu, Alice Guy-Blaché, Ada Lovelace, Mary Blair, Ida B. Wells, Mitsuye Endo, Policarpa Salavarrieta, The Trung Sisters, Marsha P. Johnson, Elizabeth Jennings, Madam CJ Walker, María Teresa Ferrari de Gaudino, Kate Warne, Funmilayo Randome-Kuti, and Eunice Newton Foote. In addition to the 16 women profiled, there are small 1-2 page biographies of Esther Eng, Karen Sparck Jones, Patsy Takemoto Mink, Grace Hopper, and Peseshet. I'm grateful to have discovered these women, and will look forward to reading more stories about them in the future.
3 stars instead of 5: The book has some big weaknesses. First of all, I applaud the diversity of the women represented, but it would have been appropriate to include a lesbian to be fully representative. Second of all, and most importantly, this book is VERY POORLY EDITED. There are typos galore, grammar errors, words misplaced, ages miscalculated, and clunky prose. One would think a copy editor, or even the author herself, would be able to catch a few of these glaring errors.
Finally, there is NO resource section or bibliography at the end of the book. Where did Ms. Koeppel get her information? How can we learn more? Are there any books about these women? There is nothing available for further exploration. While I would LOVE to be able to recommend a book of this topic, or even keep it on my personal shelf, I can't recommend it because of the poor final product. I'm grateful for her work, but wish that the editors would have taken this to the level of a quality volume. I will search out my own bibliography to explore more.
3 stars instead of 5: The book has some big weaknesses. First of all, I applaud the diversity of the women represented, but it would have been appropriate to include a lesbian to be fully representative. Second of all, and most importantly, this book is VERY POORLY EDITED. There are typos galore, grammar errors, words misplaced, ages miscalculated, and clunky prose. One would think a copy editor, or even the author herself, would be able to catch a few of these glaring errors.
Finally, there is NO resource section or bibliography at the end of the book. Where did Ms. Koeppel get her information? How can we learn more? Are there any books about these women? There is nothing available for further exploration. While I would LOVE to be able to recommend a book of this topic, or even keep it on my personal shelf, I can't recommend it because of the poor final product. I'm grateful for her work, but wish that the editors would have taken this to the level of a quality volume. I will search out my own bibliography to explore more.
August 15, 2023
An odd duck of a book - but in a way, so were many of the ground-breaking women in it.
I LOVE that these overlooked women - especially ones I'd never heard of (most of them) - are included here. It's a book that's needed to inform people that more's going on besides a handful of recognizable females (yes...we know about Joan of Arc - but what about Murasaki Shikibu, writer of the extremely popular THE TALE OF GENJI?).
The odd parts:
- The author laments that she can't squeeze in more stories, but the type in this book is HUGE...the typeface is round (takes up more space), the chapter openers take up a lot of space, etc. MANY more stories could have been included with a more accommodating design.
- The design is often odd in other ways. For example, I thought the story of Ada Lovelace (world's first computer programmer!) had ended when a 2-page spread appeared on filmmaker Esther Eng. Then Ada's story continues on 1 more page! This is a bad break that needed better formatting.
- Disney visionary Mary Blair is fascinating, but I got sick of hearing about how much Walt Disney "loved" her -over and over. Here - and in other places - wording got repeated so much that it became awkward.
- Way too many typos. These would escape spell check - didn't see a copyeditor in the credits, but one was needed. For an example in big type - p. 137 - "As one of the first girls to ever to attend elementary school...." - the first "to" needs to be deleted.
If some of the oddities were cleaned up, this would be a 5 for me! (And I agree with the last line - happy to see detective Kate Warne in here.)
I LOVE that these overlooked women - especially ones I'd never heard of (most of them) - are included here. It's a book that's needed to inform people that more's going on besides a handful of recognizable females (yes...we know about Joan of Arc - but what about Murasaki Shikibu, writer of the extremely popular THE TALE OF GENJI?).
The odd parts:
- The author laments that she can't squeeze in more stories, but the type in this book is HUGE...the typeface is round (takes up more space), the chapter openers take up a lot of space, etc. MANY more stories could have been included with a more accommodating design.
- The design is often odd in other ways. For example, I thought the story of Ada Lovelace (world's first computer programmer!) had ended when a 2-page spread appeared on filmmaker Esther Eng. Then Ada's story continues on 1 more page! This is a bad break that needed better formatting.
- Disney visionary Mary Blair is fascinating, but I got sick of hearing about how much Walt Disney "loved" her -over and over. Here - and in other places - wording got repeated so much that it became awkward.
- Way too many typos. These would escape spell check - didn't see a copyeditor in the credits, but one was needed. For an example in big type - p. 137 - "As one of the first girls to ever to attend elementary school...." - the first "to" needs to be deleted.
If some of the oddities were cleaned up, this would be a 5 for me! (And I agree with the last line - happy to see detective Kate Warne in here.)
May 26, 2020
It is refreshing to find a book of biographical sketches that does not focus on old white men. First, this book is exclusively about women as the title would suggest. But maybe as important it contains a wide spectrum of racial women from a variety of different times and regions of the world. I was gratified that women from Latin America, Africa, and Asia found their way into these pages.
Obviously, with just fifteen (although there are some short vignettes about others) women highlighted more needs to be done to showcase women around the world and their contribution to humanity. Maybe the author has another book in the works. But even these few tell a remarkable story of our indebtedness.
The biopics are to the point and do not bore the reader with unnecessary details. Some of the tales are more captivating than others. Some rely on word of mouth while others are based on historical documentation. Due to this there are some inequities in the stories. But even with these shortcomings the book is captivating.
If you are looking for something outside the ordinary, Koeppel has provided you a wonderful place to begin. I expect for you, like it did for me, it will open your vistas to new horizons.
Upon request, the publisher, with no preset conditions, sent me a copy of the book to review.
Obviously, with just fifteen (although there are some short vignettes about others) women highlighted more needs to be done to showcase women around the world and their contribution to humanity. Maybe the author has another book in the works. But even these few tell a remarkable story of our indebtedness.
The biopics are to the point and do not bore the reader with unnecessary details. Some of the tales are more captivating than others. Some rely on word of mouth while others are based on historical documentation. Due to this there are some inequities in the stories. But even with these shortcomings the book is captivating.
If you are looking for something outside the ordinary, Koeppel has provided you a wonderful place to begin. I expect for you, like it did for me, it will open your vistas to new horizons.
Upon request, the publisher, with no preset conditions, sent me a copy of the book to review.
April 28, 2020
"Strong Women: 15 Biographies of Influential Women History Overlooked" celebrates the lives and contributions of amazing women who may not be household names, but who nonetheless made our world a better place. Author Kari Koeppel divides the book into three sections: "The Innovators"; "The Change-Makers"; and "The Ceiling-Breakers". Featured women from various eras in time include those who worked in writing, film-making, design engineering, journalism, civil liberties, political reform, education, entrepreneurship, women's rights, women's health, investigative services, and science. Each biography is accompanied by a colorfully illustrated portrait of the subject. In addition to the spotlight stories, there are a number of brief histories of other notable women whose lives had an impact on society. As the author states: "Women have always been well-rounded, complicated, complete humans with ambitions, beliefs, courage, and a deep-rooted sense of survival."
Book Copy Gratis Callisto Publishers
Book Copy Gratis Callisto Publishers
November 13, 2020
As a historian, I often can be picky about these types of mini-biographies of different groups of people that have been become increasingly popular the past few years. There isn't anything to complain about this book beyond the wish that even popular histories included more citations or even citations at all because we need to model good historical research and argument. If this were written in my classroom, it would earn an F because without citation, you have nothing and may be plagiarizing. Apparently these days it is okay to just write popular history without citations; not even a bibliography is included.
I'm sorry if I'm being picky for some folks, but evidence and proper historical citations matter. I wish that the publisher Rockridge Press would figure this out before they send me historical books to review.
I really do love the writing style and information. I just have to insist on standards for all historical work. The author had to do the research so why not include it?
I'm sorry if I'm being picky for some folks, but evidence and proper historical citations matter. I wish that the publisher Rockridge Press would figure this out before they send me historical books to review.
I really do love the writing style and information. I just have to insist on standards for all historical work. The author had to do the research so why not include it?
June 10, 2023
A fairly standard book of short biographies. Nicely written and easy to read. It perfectly fit my one day's worth of commute (bus rides to and from work) and was a small addition to my backpack. It might be a nice book to get a teenager into to reading more. The limitations include not bibliography, notes or index, As is too common in some small press or self-published books
Overall a nice selection of less well known women even if a few are now common fare on social media and blogs (Ada Lovelace and Madam CJ Walker). If you include the sidebars with some shorter biographies there are more than fifteen women discussed. I especially appreciated the number of South American and Asian women included. I think this could direct me to some interesting longer biographies, even without a bibliography or notes to give more direction. One other thing I found odd was that all of the sidebars were oddly placed. For instance, Esther Eng, a filmmaker, follows Ada Lovelace, the mother of computing, rather than Alice Guy-Blache, who was also filmmaker.
Overall a nice selection of less well known women even if a few are now common fare on social media and blogs (Ada Lovelace and Madam CJ Walker). If you include the sidebars with some shorter biographies there are more than fifteen women discussed. I especially appreciated the number of South American and Asian women included. I think this could direct me to some interesting longer biographies, even without a bibliography or notes to give more direction. One other thing I found odd was that all of the sidebars were oddly placed. For instance, Esther Eng, a filmmaker, follows Ada Lovelace, the mother of computing, rather than Alice Guy-Blache, who was also filmmaker.
May 8, 2020
I received a digital ARC (advance reader copy) of this book for NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I picked this book, hoping to learn about women in history that are not as often mentioned in history lessons and books, and I was not disappointed.
The author does a great job of telling these women stories and even discussing their influence on others in history in a way that is not boring and stale from being retold over and over again. A color drawing accompanies each biography, and best of all, this book does not read like your run of the mill history book—the book and features women that lived in the 1990s and 2000s. I also appreciated the inclusion of short biographies on other women throughout the book in addition to the leading 15 biographies. This book was well throughout and purposefully written, and it shows.
I picked this book, hoping to learn about women in history that are not as often mentioned in history lessons and books, and I was not disappointed.
The author does a great job of telling these women stories and even discussing their influence on others in history in a way that is not boring and stale from being retold over and over again. A color drawing accompanies each biography, and best of all, this book does not read like your run of the mill history book—the book and features women that lived in the 1990s and 2000s. I also appreciated the inclusion of short biographies on other women throughout the book in addition to the leading 15 biographies. This book was well throughout and purposefully written, and it shows.
May 20, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this read from Kari Koeppel. It was quick, but no less important and felt complete and finished.
The true spotlight was on these 15 women and Kari gave them each their moment to shine.
I enjoyed each and every story and found myself racing to the end of each one to find out "what happened to her?!"
I hope to read more from this author again, she did a wonderful job sharing these stories.
The true spotlight was on these 15 women and Kari gave them each their moment to shine.
I enjoyed each and every story and found myself racing to the end of each one to find out "what happened to her?!"
I hope to read more from this author again, she did a wonderful job sharing these stories.
February 20, 2021
This book made me aware of the fantastic accomplishments of women across the world and even in my own country, which either due to ignorance or patriarchal culture I previously had overlooked. Despite a few grammatical errors, this book will broaden your knowledge and leave you as a man or woman wanting to do more to make this world a better place. Thank you Kari Koeppel. Definitely a book I will read to younger women in my family.
June 8, 2021
I’ve never been a biography reader (and almost never read non-fiction), so this book was such a perfect way to learn about a bunch of really incredible women. I found that the mini-biographies were an ideal length to get the scope of these women’s lives, accomplishments, and impacts, while not feeling too dense or getting into the micro-details (which would probably be a bit much for a biography rookie like me). Overall, this book is an incredible read!
February 13, 2021
There were some typos and grammar issues that could have been fixed with a few edits. Also, there isnt a bibliography and additional resources. However, i really like that Kari Koeppel brought to light some of the stories of these amazing women. I would have changed a few things peraonally, but it was a good read overall. the illustrations were also very good.
February 13, 2021
This book was good. I would’ve loved there to be references because it comes across as kinda like a story with no evidence to back it up, but provided a really interesting basis for further research. Lots of amazing women I had never heard of!
April 24, 2024
Loved the writing style for these biographies! It kept my attention throughout, something I struggle with in historical writing. I do wish the author had included citations, footnotes and end citations. I don't like that I can't see where she's getting her information.
May 5, 2020
I received a complimentary copy.
Inspirational and moving stories of women I had not yet known of. A great read.
Inspirational and moving stories of women I had not yet known of. A great read.
June 4, 2020
Fascinating histories of real woman who aren’t well known. Well-researched, and presented in an engaging and interesting way. Definitely recommended!
June 10, 2020
Love the illustrations in this book. I’ve heard of some of these women, but not all. There were three categories, the innovators, the change makers, and the ceiling breakers.
July 7, 2020
I learned a lot. I had only previously heard of 1 of the 15 women portrayed in this book.
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