Uppity Women of the New World

Uppity Women

by Vicki León

Uppity Women of the New World

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, American History, Feminism, Historical, Humor

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

A prolific author of non-fiction, author of numerous books for young and old, Vicki León delights in unearthing unusual facts, fresh anecdotes, and uncommon statistics to create her books on the natural world and the flip side of history. Her book have won rave reviews from a long list of media that includes People magazine. Publishers Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Voice of America, and numerous NPR stations.

Her bestselling titles for 10 and up include A Raft of Sea Otters, The Secrets of Tidepools, and three titles in the Outrageous Women series.

Her popular titles for older readers include Uppity Women of Ancient Times, Uppity Women of the Renaissance, and the other Uppity titles and the travel title Scenic Highway One.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leon's book is a fine example of a great idea poorly executed. It does the important work of bringing the forgotten stories of women to light and covers a wide range, from less-legendary Native Americans to explorers and artists to indigenous rebels, but the writing is so glib and self-consciously anachronistic as to pass from funny, to gimmicky, to irritating within the first chapter. Nevertheless, I recommend Uppity Women of the New World as a sampler to pique the interest of anyone just cracking the surface of women's studies.

[Nostalgia Reader]

Gave it a few full chapters, then skimmed a few other entries (mainly the Australian ones), but the style just wasn't for me. It tried being funny, but it just came across as condescending (even though it isn't).

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had some interesting information for the most part. But I didn't understand some of the phrasing used in some places and there were a few women in the book that I didn't understand how they related to the New World.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uppity Women is an extremely long list of influential women of the colonial period. Covering from the early 17th century up to the mid 19th, Uppity Women gives you brief biographies for dozens of women who have almost uniformly been kept out of your history books. Scientific pioneers whose accomplishment were claimed by their male colleagues are here besides revolutionaries whose names, for some reason, never make the textbooks.

It's a long list. And not every story will be gripping or interesting but it's like a Ramone's album: If one particular entry doesn't grab you, the next one probably will. There is a lengthy bibliography in the back if one wants more.

The breadth of subjects covered does mean that no particular subject gets a ton of time spent on them but the entries are complete and Leon does get their birth, death, and major accomplishments down to 1-2 pages. Some of these stories are incredible and I will try to seek out further in-depth pieces. Also the number of female revolutionaries who adopted the kilt as a clothing item is astounding. I mean, it's like 2 of the entries in the book. But it's weird that it happened twice.

The book is written in a very wink-wink-nudge-nudgey kind of prose that might make it a fast read for some but I kinda hated it. The sort of trying-to-be-funny tone that turns me off Joss Whedon projects. I acknowledge that this may just be a me thing, though. And there isn't really time to examine some of the subjects with more controversial attached history.

If you are in the market for a primer on a slew of historical women who are almost all cool, you will find many here that will spur your imagination. Definitely a book to mark up with post-it notes or dog-ear your favorite historical personages in.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I guess as I am torn about how to rate this one because I appreciated that amazing women from all over the globe who covered within the pages. The main issue I have is some something I feel guilty bringing up because I often complain about how horrible it is that fascinating historical events/people are confined to dry boring text, but I certainly cannot make that complaint here. Leon intends to be humorous and put a bit of lightheartedness into the text, but I found it to be in a manner that often distracted from the biographies of the outstanding women she was attempting to highlight. I also took some issue with the whimsy (I'm lacking a better word at the moment) that she took with the sexual assault of women as "rapey" is used throughout the book. I understand why the text is written in such a manner, as it might otherwise be exhausting to read, but it was an issue for me throughout the text. In short, although I appreciated Leon's efforts I will not be reading other books in the series for the reasons mentioned above.

[Mare Kinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK. So the idea is that this is a series of 1-3 page snapshots of various women who lived from the 16th to 18th centuries in "The New World" by which the author apparently means "Not Europe." So this should be interesting, right?

Uhhhh...sort of. Many of the stories are interesting. None are very long on specific information, which is forgivable as women were often ignored by history during this time. The problem is the style. The style. Omg, the f-ing style.

The author tries to inject an element of, I guess, hip-ness into the information by using what are sad attempts at "the modern lingo," and thereby negates the idea that these are important stories of important women which have been ignored. Instead it comes off as, 'Oh, isn't it cute and funny that this woman took control of her own destiny in some way?"

Most unfortunate.

[Mercedes McLean-Wheeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I generally love this style of nonfiction, this book helped me realize what I don’t like about it. There were way too many entries in this book- it would have been a much stronger read if it had half (or fewer) entries, because then the author may have been able to actually say something of interest about the hundreds of women mentioned. Knowing the longer version of several of the stories, in order to shorten them enough to jam so many in they had to take out all the interesting details. I also just didn’t love the tone, but that wasn’t the main issue.

[Book Shark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there were more books in this series, however, the fact there isn't is a good thing as more and more women are no longer lost to history as so and so's mother/wife/daughter/sister. Instead allowed to make history themselves.

[Sarah Dunmire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I barely got to page 20 and bailed. Too sarcastic in tone for me. It was funny and entertaining at first, but then it grated on me. These are real women who did interesting things, and it seems like she’s almost making fun of them. Weird tone.

[Suzanne Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but not all that informative. Kind of just a coffee table book.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flippant and very sketchy history bites. Fun to read but repetitive.

[La Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend to my adventurous (adult) daughter.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the historical aspect of the book, but halfway through I began to get tired of the reused jokes that seemed to be trying to hard. By the end, I was just ready to be finished with it.

[Hippiemouse420 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is campy and trying too hard to be tongue-in-cheek. But, it's a good starting point for finding new people to learn about.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable, informative, and witty book on many an obscure yet feisty woman who made history (and then was promptly left out of the books in most cases). From doctors to inventors, peace keepers to wartime heroines, adventurers to stay-at-home defenders, Uppity Women of the New World is packed with inspiring tales.

[Germaine Archambeault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anytime we feel we have it figured out, think about the women before us that lead the way... I enjoyed this immensely, but I'm a history kind of girl. If you enjoy history and are looking for off-beat, you'll enjoy this.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun entry in the series. Find out the truth behind the Granny Smith apple. Go on, I double dare you!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool; brief 1 page bios on not commonly known historical women, written in a funny/sassy sort of way.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating Clarification: 3.5 Stars

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these books well enough but the jabs at all men in general every other page tends to get old.