Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

This week I (finally) managed to finish one of the books that I started before the holidays and then ended up leaving by the wayside, because, well, the holidays.  (The Christmas stuff is still not all put away, but I’m trying!)  I received a copy of Sam Maggs’ Wonder Women:  25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History almost, well–2 1/2 years ago.

Ouch.  Kids just slow down certain aspects of your life, you know?

Anyway.  Clearly, this review is LONG overdue, especially since the folks at Quirk Books were kind enough to send me an ARC.  Without further ado, then…

THE GOOD:  Okay, these were seriously fascinating stories.  What kills me is that at 39, I’d only heard of 4 of the 25 before I started the book–and I love history. Which means that the majority of these stories aren’t known the way they should be, so kudos to Sam Maggs for bringing them to our attention.  She also gives us brief paragraphs on more women for each category, making this a book packed with stories that need to be told.  The sections are long enough to give a sense of each story but short enough so as not to feel overwhelming for teens who may not be big nonfiction fans (I certainly wasn’t at that age!).  I wanted more, but again, I’m 39, and I quite enjoy nonfiction at this point in my life.

THE NOT-AS-GOOD-FOR-ME:  I noted multiple reviewers complaining about Maggs’ tone, and I will say that I was a bit tired of it by the end.  I’m not a teen and my oldest is 12, so she may have been spot-on for her intended audience–I wouldn’t know.  Its specific sort of slangy, modern chattiness narrows its appeal a bit, though.

THE LESS-THAN-IDEAL-OVERALL:  In the first few sections, Maggs went out of her way to cast relevant male characters in the worst possible light.  That seemed to ease up as the book progressed, but it weakened the effect a bit.  (It’s true that nonfiction slanted in the opposite direction for, well, centuries, but I’d rather see a problem rectified than the pendulum swing out in the other direction.)  Maggs also went out of her way to point out any nontraditional lifestyle choices made by the women in question, and at some point, their sexuality is not only not relevant, but mentioning it falls into the old trap of focusing on different information when describing women than when describing men.

THE VERDICT:  This is not a book written for adults that appeals to teens, but a book written for teens (or possibly those just past their teens).  The stories in it, however, are stories that need to be told, whatever the age of their audience; I’m interested to see what else Sam Maggs has to offer.