Black Icons in Herstory: 50 Legendary Women

by Monica Ahanonu (Illustrator), Darian Symoné Harvin

Black Icons in Herstory features bold, colorfully illustrated portraits of 50 of the most admired women in the fields of music, film, literature, politics, human rights, and more. This second book in our Icons series focuses exclusively on remarkable Black women, celebrating their achievements, legacy, and continued inspiration. From Harriet Tubman to Kamala Harris; from Nina Simone to Beyoncé; from Michelle Obama to Amanda Gorman; this curated list of role models is significant. Each striking portrait illustrated by Monica Ahanonu is accompanied by a biography of each woman, highlighting her contributions to our culture and her lasting influence on herstory.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Lizzie (Dizzy Lizzie’s Book Emporium) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronical Chroma for an eARC of Black Icons of Herstory: 50 Legendary Women by Darian Symore Harvin and Monica Ahanonu.

The pages of this book are graced with short biographies and absolutely gorgeous painted portraits of 50 incredible Black women from historical and contemporary America. What a fantastic book! It highlights some of the great names from the 20th century and beyond, and serves as a great jumping off point to go learn more. The graphics were absolutely beautiful, colorful, and well suited to capture the personality of each featured woman. I will say that my true rating is closer to a 4.5, but I rounded up to a 5 for ratings. My primary critique is that some of the biographies were written in a slightly odd format. I'm not sure how to put my finger on what was odd about them, but the first paragraph would often feature a blurb about what the woman was best known for, but in a narrative format that requires some foreknowledge or context to fully grasp. Some biographies lacked dates to place each woman's accomplishments within her historical context, and there were several typos that I trust will be edited before publication.

Overall, I highly recommend. This book is for everyone!

[Maya (Sup3rN0va) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Chronicle Books, Darian Symonè Harvin, Monica Ahanonu, & NetGalley for this advanced readers copy (ARC) of Black Icons of Herstory in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5/5 Stars
This is a book about women who are 19th & 20th century icons!
I like the format of this book,
I really enjoyed the illustrations, I think they're beautiful. I love the individual descriptions or "blurbs" that come before the illustrated images. There's so much information packed in just one page!

I expected and was happy to see trans women in this book, we definitely need more trans inclusion in our books. I also liked that there were several Afro Latinas!There were also a few gay women! 🏳️‍🌈! I was so moved and overjoyed to see my favorite author, Octavia E. Butler, included in this book! I got a little teary eyed looking at her illustration 💜

I think anyone could read this to learn more about 19th & 20th century icons!

[Weekend Reader_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this illustrated books. While there are the usual suspects there were some new icons. I also appreciated the inclusion of trans women and Afro Latinas. The range was a good balance of performers, artists, athletes, activists, writers, thought leaders, and scholars. The descriptions were mostly bios but I did learn some new info.

Thank to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ian Yarington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I won this in the giveaways but I don't feel like it influenced my thoughts on the book at all. It's a little book full of wonderfully accomplished and unique black woman. It has one page of about six to ten paragraphs on the person and her story and one page of an illustration of that person. Both the writing and the illustrations are a sincere praise of these beautiful people and I love it.

[Vnunez-Ms_luv2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book. The biographies of each lady is great and the pictures are awesome!!! This is a book for any age. I will be recommending and hope there will be more like this. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving this book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful presentation of Black Women Icons!! Each story is beautify written. I especially loved the beautiful & colorful portraits of each Icon. This book would make a excellent gift for young woman. It will also make a great addition to my coffee table books.

Thanks to NetGalley, Chronicle Books & the authors for this ARC!

[Meg Gramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough and diverse spectrum of women. Not too long, not too short. I just finished a womxn's unit with 11th graders and this book could have been really helpful for students to flip through. I envision this on many a shelf!

[Kate Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning book! We need to hear and see more Black Icons and share with our families, friends and children. I need a copy of this on my coffee table so I can easily share it.

[Ji Eun · Rating 1 out of 5]

One should not Equate Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks at the same Ranks or Level as Beyonce, Serena Williams, Michelle Obama. Period.

[Susie Silvers]

I would recommend this book to everyone. It was very interesting.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have Cardi B and not Nicki Minaj???!!! Please explain.