Revolutionary Women: 50 Women of Color Who Reinvented the Rules

by Ann Shen

Revolutionary Women celebrates the amazing stories of 50 women of color who pushed boundaries, rewrote the rules, and inspired women everywhere to follow in their footsteps.

Discover the remarkable true stories of a diverse group of women who were trailblazers and leaders in their field, becoming visible icons of excellence in their communities and beyond. From making their mark on the big screen and in the halls of NASA to ruling on the courts of the US Open and the Supreme Court, their incredible stories will inspire you to embrace your authentic self and live your life in full color.

For fans of Ann Shen's beloved Bad Girls Throughout History , this spiritual successor celebrates the accomplishments of these incredible women alongside Ann Shen's signature artwork. From dancers, actors, and singers to scientists, astronauts, politicians, and activists, these women used their voices and their passions to change the world. They

• Gloria Estefan , one of the best-selling female music artists of all time.
• Anna Sui , an iconic fashion designer for over four decades.
• Bessie Stringfield , the motorcycle queen of Miami.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , the youngest woman ever sworn into Congress.
• Misty Copeland , the first Black woman principal dancer at American Ballet Theater.
• Joyce Chen , the first Chinese celebrity chef.

Revolutionary Women captures their extraordinary stories in a beautiful and inspiring format that elevates their achievements. Readers will love the new take on Ann Shen's beloved first book, as well as the uplifting stories, beautiful and rich art, and the inspiration for readers to forge their own paths.

BEAUTIFUL This book combines fun and colorful illustrations with important history through the lens of intersectional feminism, celebrating women of color for the amazing things they accomplished, appealing to people of all ages and genders.

Perfect

• Customers who also bought BAD GIRLS THROUGHOUT HISTORY or LEGENDARY LADIES
• Fans of Fashion, Art, and History
• Self-Proclaimed Feminists

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, History, Biography

208 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2022

About the author

Ann Shen is an illustrator, letterer, and author based in Los Angeles. A graduate of UCSD and Art Center College of Design, Ann has created work or a number of publications, campaigns, products, and galleries for children of all ages. She lives with her husband and their small menagerie of animals.

She's written and illustrated four books, "Bad Girls Throughout History" (2016), "Legendary Ladies" (2018), "Nevertheless, She Wore It" (2020), and "Revolutionary Women" (2022), all published by Chronicle Books.

Reviews

[Kaity ✿ · Rating 5 out of 5]

the artwork was beautiful! unfortunately, there were severe formatting issues that prevented me from being able to read all of the text, but I look forward to reading it once it's published! (and also, the formatting at one point made the text say that Rita Moreno had a "sensational romantic life that included George W. Bush", so at least it was wrong in an entertaining way)

thank you so much to chronicle books and edelweiss for letting me see an early copy of this book!

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Pinterest | Storygraph | Readerly

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, informative, beautifully illustrated, and empowering.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I've read quite a few collected biographies at this point. Probably a lot more than the average person. I just want to say that up front, because I feel like I used to enjoy them a lot more, but I have been finding it a lot easier to pick them apart the more I read them, and I just want to be honest about how I may be overly harsh. To be clear, there was stuff I thought was really great here! I deliberated hard about how to rate the book, and I'm honestly still unsure because the good was good and the bad wasn't dire (there was just a lot I was unhappy with).

Let's start with what I liked. The art is super cute, without being too twee (a criticism I remember seeing on the author/artist's previous works). A lot of books of this time are for children and teens, and I'm glad to see works that are for adults like this--we deserve to have the chance to learn stuff in a fun and accessible way too! The layout of individual chapters was easy to read and aesthetically pleasing. A lot of books with this many bios might include one token trans woman, and this book features three, which is great. A lot of books of this type also frequently don't include that many Indigenous women, and this one actually includes probably about a fifth of the selection as Indigenous women. While many of the women featured were ones whose stories I have read about before, either through other history books or the news, many of the women featured were lesser known and incredibly interesting to learn about.

Now for the stuff I was less keen on. It was super focused on USAmerican women, and with the exception of maybe five of them, almost all the women featured were either born in the US or lived there later (and the ones this doesn't apply to are Canadian or New Zealander). While there may have been a few trans women featured, queerness was otherwise never noted. The representation for Black, Indigenous, and Asian women was great, but not very varied. The Black women were USAmerican and Canadian, the Indigenous women were from different parts of the US and New Zealand, and the Asian women were primarily Chinese and Japanese, with a few Indian women and one Filipino women. There were not any Arab women, or women from Southwest Asian countries. I think only one originated from South America, and I don't think any African women were featured at all. More diversity was needed.

To be honest, I also think that part of my problem with it is that the title set up my expectations for, well, revolutionary women. A lot of the women featured here are not particularly revolutionary, especially when we look at the women in the more political spheres. I am fine with women who are "revolutionary in their fields" being included here, but women who are in politics, law, and activism should be doing better than Kamala Harris or Sonia Sotomayor. I do think some of the issue I had is that so many of the women featured are still alive and working now. If it had had more of a historical leaning, there would be less room for weirdness (like Sotomayor, who has made some of her worst rulings this year, four years after the original publication). Honestly, I also think it being women whose careers are pretty early like Naomi Osaka and AOC is weird anyway, because, again, this book is for adults. I read the news. I exist on social media. I leave my house. I know who they are, I know their stories, and I suspect that most of the target audience will as well. I think that having more historical figures and more figures from around the world would have prevented the book from many of the issues it has. I was just disappointed that so many of the women in politics and activism featured in "Revolutionary Women" were very much part of upholding the status quo.

I also hated the way the book was sorted, it didn't make a lot of sense. It was broken up into sections like "Knowledge" and "Identity," but there didn't seem to be a lot of consistency in who went where and why. For example, there were two ballerinas in different sections, there were multiple actresses in different sections, there were writers in different sections, and so on. The division is never explained and is not at all clear. Also the figures featured are alphabetised in each chapter by first name. Again, this is a book for adults. Alphabetised by surname or chronologically sorted would have made more sense.

Anyway, I wanted to love this, but I just didn't. I didn't hate it, and I think it has merit, but I've definitely gotten a lot more out of other books of this type. I loved learning about some of the women featured here, so I can't recommend against it, it just didn't live up to my expectations as a whole.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superlative book that would make an excellent addition in any school or home library. Some of the women are well known but many of them aren't and so this book is an introduction not an encyclopedia. Ms. Shen's book would be ideal for a child that has an open assignment to write a biography on a person of her, his, or their choice. There isn't enough material to copy and paste but there is enough to pick a person and the author included a bibliography in alphabetical order. This would allow a young scholar to delve deeper and produce a fine bio for class. Ms. Shen's illustrations are beautiful every woman has a full page portrait and some have another page that's a quote that is done in the style of a poster reminiscent of the "War Is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things" from back in the day.

[Ari Santillanes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great job, Ann! I’m your cheerleader up in Sacramento, always sharing your books with my students and gifting them for birthdays to my girlfriends. I’ll always show up for my fellow UCSD Triton! 🔱

I love that this book was specifically about BIPOC women’s achievements. I learned so much and it was very timely reading for classroom research assignment on social change activists. Thinking of using Ida B. Wells or Charlotta Bass for my mock-up/sample.

Also, thank you to you or Chronicle Books for making it available through Hoopla. This app is supported by our public library and school district, which means I can get students reading it on devices instantly. That you have made ease of access a priority is appreciated!

[My24KaratHeart ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an inspiring book with lovely illustrations by the author, celebrating WOC in different industries throughout history. The book is full of vibrant colors due to the authors personal aesthetician and design skills, and makes for quite an aesthetically captivating experience. Even the cover is riveting.

There are so many more women I could see being featured, but I was excited to learn about the feats of women I'd never heard of. This is something I stumbled upon at the library, and it's a real gem of a book. I would love a Volume 2 one day.

[Stefi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, formatted and illustrated biographical book highlighting the accomplishments of some of the most inspiring and notable women of color. The book is divided by accomplishments “in pursuit of” art, equity, excellence, exploration expression, identity and knowledge. A remarkable and necessary read.

[Elba M · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very good reference book. You can read a very condense version of the woman you are interested and do more research about her. I was very proud that there were some women from Puerto Rico. Although I think that she should have had Chita Rivera another great puertorrican actress.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for reading challenge. Higher rating for the joy of learning about amazing women I knew nothing about. Colorful and creative illustration but design is awkward and redundant -- repeating info easily found online. Easy and enjoyable read.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short biographies of black, latinx or indigenous women who have struck a difference in mainly American culture.

[Wandee’s Thoughts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading about iconic women in history

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! So many great women and all illustrated beautifully! All schools, libraries and book shelves would benefit from this book.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring stories of amazing women of colour. As a woman of colour myself, it's nice to finally read about the accomplishments of someone like me break the glass ceiling and overcome not just gender but also racial bias to succeed in their own field.