Take a photo of a barcode or cover
212 reviews for:
Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History
Sophia Foster-Dimino, Sam Maggs
4.04 AVERAGE
212 reviews for:
Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History
Sophia Foster-Dimino, Sam Maggs
4.04 AVERAGE
I loved this! It was written with a witty and engaging voice and I learnt a whole lot. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in history and women's rights.
Interesting, accessible, and inspiring. In concise 3-5 page stories Maggs introduced me to a variety of fantastically resilient, intelligent, and creative women. I had honestly only heard of maybe 3 of the women she covered and I was wowed by the huge contributions they've made. This book inspiried some sense of badass womenness in me that just makes me want to educate EVERYONE (see Leslie Knope in Parks and Rec for a depiction of how I'd do this) about the women behind the scenes of history.
Also, cute illustrations!
5/5
Also, cute illustrations!
5/5
I don’t often read non-fiction. That’s probably because the non-fiction I’ve tried before has been written in a dry, mind-numbingly boring academic style - the kind of book that can make even the most fascinating of topics dull and puts me straight to sleep. But when I heard about Wonder Women, I just knew I had to get my hands on a copy.
In a conversational, tumblr-esque tone, Maggs introduces her readers to 25 women whose dedication and determination in their fields paved the way for future generations of women in STEM. Between each section there’s also smaller spotlights on other amazing women of science, medicine, innovation, espionage and adventure, and along the way Maggs interviews real-life women working in each the fields presented in Wonder Women.
In the very first paragraph of her introduction, Maggs states that representation is important. It’s no wonder then, that Maggs’ chosen subjects are so brilliantly diverse - from Anandibai Joshi, the Indian physician who publicly decried the lack of female doctors in India, to Elvira Chaudoir, the openly bisexual Peruvian heiress and spy. It’s hugely uplifting to see so many historical queer women and historical women of colour celebrated in one text, and it’s a powerful reminder that women and minorities have always been at the forefront of history, demanding to be heard.
Wonder Women introduces its readers to a host of incredible women whose achievements have been forgotten by history and science textbooks. This is one of those books that I can see myself re-reading whenever I need an inspiration boost, and I know I’ll be recommending it to all of my geeky feminist friends.
Many thanks to Quirk Books for providing a copy of Wonder Women. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publisher: Quirk Books
Rating: 5 stars | ★★★★★
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd
In a conversational, tumblr-esque tone, Maggs introduces her readers to 25 women whose dedication and determination in their fields paved the way for future generations of women in STEM. Between each section there’s also smaller spotlights on other amazing women of science, medicine, innovation, espionage and adventure, and along the way Maggs interviews real-life women working in each the fields presented in Wonder Women.
In the very first paragraph of her introduction, Maggs states that representation is important. It’s no wonder then, that Maggs’ chosen subjects are so brilliantly diverse - from Anandibai Joshi, the Indian physician who publicly decried the lack of female doctors in India, to Elvira Chaudoir, the openly bisexual Peruvian heiress and spy. It’s hugely uplifting to see so many historical queer women and historical women of colour celebrated in one text, and it’s a powerful reminder that women and minorities have always been at the forefront of history, demanding to be heard.
Wonder Women introduces its readers to a host of incredible women whose achievements have been forgotten by history and science textbooks. This is one of those books that I can see myself re-reading whenever I need an inspiration boost, and I know I’ll be recommending it to all of my geeky feminist friends.
Many thanks to Quirk Books for providing a copy of Wonder Women. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publisher: Quirk Books
Rating: 5 stars | ★★★★★
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd
This book is timely, well-researched, and just what we need right now.
I love how Quirk Books and the editors were able to keep Sam's voice. It's almost like sitting down and having a conversation with her.
Because of that, it's easy to devour and fun to read; but if you're looking for something with a little more in-depth analysis, you'll have to look further.
This would be a great read for and young ladies, and young men, who want a little bit of inspiration.
I love how Quirk Books and the editors were able to keep Sam's voice. It's almost like sitting down and having a conversation with her.
Because of that, it's easy to devour and fun to read; but if you're looking for something with a little more in-depth analysis, you'll have to look further.
This would be a great read for and young ladies, and young men, who want a little bit of inspiration.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
I really liked the concept of this book. It focuses on 25 women, most of whom are not well known, and talks about the important role they played in history, as well as how many of their accompishments have been ignored, or worse claimed by men. It’s grouped into categories such as explorers and stem heroines. There’s bonus stories in each section as well as interviews with modern women making a different. I learned a ton, but at times the tone was too cheeky.
I know the author was trying to make it interesting, but it seemed juvenile at times. Still very much worth the read.
An entertaining and informative book about some of the amazing women who have changed the world.
I like the concept of a collection of short biographies of innovative women in history, but the writing felt like it was trying too hard to be young and cool.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
Women are strong and smart as hell... and always have been! Anything with feminism, science, & A+ puns wins my heart every time.
With each chapter my opinion is reinforced: this is the best collection of profiles on badass women. Reasons to love:
- Highlights a truly diverse cast of characters.
- We all know there must have been SO many important contributions by women over the course of history but we hear about the same ones over and over. This volume sticks to lesser known gems.
- Features only women in STEM, and Maggs does a great job conveying how exciting their contributions are...and how much sexist crap they had to overcome to make it happen.
- Consistently fun to read:
"...she designed a pair of mechanical wings after deciding she wanted to fly. (Did she basically invent steampunk? Can someone credit her for that on Wikipedia?)"
And entertaining us with science speak: "I smacked uranium with neutrons and barium came out? Don't understand? Halp???"
- Simple format peppered with perfectly adorable illustrations.
- Each chapter is just the right length (but you'll immediately want to go learn all of the things about all of the women).
- Will appeal equally to middle grades through adult readers.
Girls will aspire to be just as cool as the ones they'll read about - so get this book in their hands as soon as you can!
- Highlights a truly diverse cast of characters.
- We all know there must have been SO many important contributions by women over the course of history but we hear about the same ones over and over. This volume sticks to lesser known gems.
- Features only women in STEM, and Maggs does a great job conveying how exciting their contributions are...and how much sexist crap they had to overcome to make it happen.
- Consistently fun to read:
"...she designed a pair of mechanical wings after deciding she wanted to fly. (Did she basically invent steampunk? Can someone credit her for that on Wikipedia?)"
And entertaining us with science speak: "I smacked uranium with neutrons and barium came out? Don't understand? Halp???"
- Simple format peppered with perfectly adorable illustrations.
- Each chapter is just the right length (but you'll immediately want to go learn all of the things about all of the women).
- Will appeal equally to middle grades through adult readers.
Girls will aspire to be just as cool as the ones they'll read about - so get this book in their hands as soon as you can!
2.5 stars - about 4 stars for the content and 1.5 stars for the writing style. As mentioned in my single update on this while reading: "I'm not hip to all the young folks' talk these days, but even I can tell this author went WAY over the top to try to sound hip/cool -- and it really doesn't work. If I'm annoyed with it, I can only imagine what a turn-off it would be for tweens/teens."