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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
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I think the only downside for me with this book was the informal—rather, trying-too-hard to be informal—writing and tone. At times it almost came off as flippant, as if these talented and pioneering women aren’t worth a real historical synopsis. That said though, I’m going to say that the author probably had a certain audience in mind (let’s say pre-teen, tween, teenage girls) in this book. With that in mind, I think the tone and informality makes it accessible to those readers, who (let’s be real) are just looking for a little lighthearted girl power, not a dry, fact-based historical review. If you aren’t a part of that audience, chances are that the writing made you roll your eyes a couple times. At the end of the day, though, does something need be so serious to learn from it. In spite of not being I that target audience, I learned a ton from this book and am really glad that I picked it up.
This March, I had the pleasure of attending a panel with Sam Maggs at Dutch Comic Con. Even though I follow her on Twitter, I knew too little about her books so this was a great opportunity to learn more. Maggs spoke about her first book, The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy and about her latest book: Wonder Women. Wonder Women tells about 25 innovators, inventors and trailblazers who changed history. Thanks to this great panel (also a big shout out to organiser ABC and their panel moderator), I just had to pick up that book.
First of all: why Sam Maggs is awesome
Sam Maggs Wonder Women signed stay radSam Maggs is someone to look up to as a nerdgirl. She’s an assistent writer at BioWare, which is the company that gave me my videogame crushes Alistair, Anders and Iron Bull. Anyone working there is automatically Cool As Shit. She wrote The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy, a handbook for girl geeks:
Fandom, feminism, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more—it’s never been a better time to be a girl geek. With delightful illustrations and an unabashed love for all the in(ternet)s and outs of geek culture, this book is packed with tips, playthroughs, and cheat codes
Now, I haven’t yet read that book but it’s definitely on my wishlist. Maggs is a comic con moderator and was named ‘Awesome Geek Feminist of the Year’ by Women Write About Comics. Just go to her Twitter or her website to read more and see how funny and amazing she is. Also, she signed my copy of Wonder Women and now I will have to stay rad forever. OK, so far for my fangirling, back to Wonder Women.
Wonder Women: 25 women who changed history
The book features 25 (well, technically some more since there are shorter pieces on more women at the end of each chapter) wonder women. Women of all races and backgrounds who left their mark on history. For instance, there is Lise Meitner, an Austrian nuclear physicist:
Lise was relegated to the status of ‘guest’ and denied salary because her boss didn’t want women in the lab for fear that their “rather exotic hairstyle” might catch fire from a Bunsen burner (unlike a man’s bushy beard?).
Lise Meitner made the discovery of nuclear fission and should have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. That sadly went, ofcourse, to a white dude who stole all the credit. Wonder Women makes clear just how many times women weren’t taken seriously, just because they were women. Take for instance the intro to the chapter ‘women of innovation’:
Of the more than 5 million U.S. patents that have been granted since 1790, only about 5 percent have a women’s name on them. Men often took credit for women’s inventions, sometimes at the behest of women of color who feared that white consumers wouldn’t want to purchase their items.
Of the 25 main wonder women, I knew NONE, so yeah, shame on me. But now I have read about them and know their amazing stories. Each story is incredible and these women should get more credit and more attention. Seriously, people of Hollywood, pick up this book and go make 25 films (or tv-series) about these women! Do it now, we need these movies asap.
This review is continued here: http://www.thesassologist.com/books/book-review-wonder-women-sam-maggs/
First of all: why Sam Maggs is awesome
Sam Maggs Wonder Women signed stay radSam Maggs is someone to look up to as a nerdgirl. She’s an assistent writer at BioWare, which is the company that gave me my videogame crushes Alistair, Anders and Iron Bull. Anyone working there is automatically Cool As Shit. She wrote The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy, a handbook for girl geeks:
Fandom, feminism, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more—it’s never been a better time to be a girl geek. With delightful illustrations and an unabashed love for all the in(ternet)s and outs of geek culture, this book is packed with tips, playthroughs, and cheat codes
Now, I haven’t yet read that book but it’s definitely on my wishlist. Maggs is a comic con moderator and was named ‘Awesome Geek Feminist of the Year’ by Women Write About Comics. Just go to her Twitter or her website to read more and see how funny and amazing she is. Also, she signed my copy of Wonder Women and now I will have to stay rad forever. OK, so far for my fangirling, back to Wonder Women.
Wonder Women: 25 women who changed history
The book features 25 (well, technically some more since there are shorter pieces on more women at the end of each chapter) wonder women. Women of all races and backgrounds who left their mark on history. For instance, there is Lise Meitner, an Austrian nuclear physicist:
Lise was relegated to the status of ‘guest’ and denied salary because her boss didn’t want women in the lab for fear that their “rather exotic hairstyle” might catch fire from a Bunsen burner (unlike a man’s bushy beard?).
Lise Meitner made the discovery of nuclear fission and should have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. That sadly went, ofcourse, to a white dude who stole all the credit. Wonder Women makes clear just how many times women weren’t taken seriously, just because they were women. Take for instance the intro to the chapter ‘women of innovation’:
Of the more than 5 million U.S. patents that have been granted since 1790, only about 5 percent have a women’s name on them. Men often took credit for women’s inventions, sometimes at the behest of women of color who feared that white consumers wouldn’t want to purchase their items.
Of the 25 main wonder women, I knew NONE, so yeah, shame on me. But now I have read about them and know their amazing stories. Each story is incredible and these women should get more credit and more attention. Seriously, people of Hollywood, pick up this book and go make 25 films (or tv-series) about these women! Do it now, we need these movies asap.
This review is continued here: http://www.thesassologist.com/books/book-review-wonder-women-sam-maggs/
4.5* A book sharing the stories and lives of a diverse group of amazing, badass and ridiculously smart women, what’s not to love? This put a smile on my face on numerous occasions, whether that be because of the amazing things these women conquered or because of the kickass things they did and said to conquer them. The structure of the book made for a quick and easy read I could dip in and out of with I really enjoyed. I adored reading about each and everyone of these awesome women and have already pushed this into the hands of my mum who’s already started reading it!
I really wanted to love this book. I love biographies, STEM, and badass women in history. Unfortunately, the voice of the author got in the way of my enjoyment of the book.
There were lots of asides and snide remarks (in parentheses) that I found so annoying that my brain started skipping anything in brackets. It reads like it will be out of date within five years from the casual language and terms used. It would be really fascinating and fun to talk to the author in-person about the badass women at a party this way, but way less fun to read.
There were lots of asides and snide remarks (in parentheses) that I found so annoying that my brain started skipping anything in brackets. It reads like it will be out of date within five years from the casual language and terms used. It would be really fascinating and fun to talk to the author in-person about the badass women at a party this way, but way less fun to read.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Sam Maggs? More like DAMMMMN MAGGS you wrote a good-ass book
Featuring ahead of their time ladies, some queer, some WOC, this book is so important. It sheds light on the frequent times that woman's achievements were overlooked or when women succeeded despite not being given the same opportunities as their male counterparts. While I admire what the author sought out to do in compiling these stories, I found the sarcastic inserts to be an annoying distraction. The audiobook narrator was not my favourite either, so maybe reading the physical book offers a different experience from the one I had. So happy that books like this exist, and looking forward to reading more like this in the future :)
Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs, illustrated by Sophia Foster-Dimino (2016)
"So join me on a journey into the history of bad-as-heck babes. Just keep in mind that these are only some of the amazing women in the history of our world. Many more are out there, and many more are to come. In fact, you know what?
"You're next."
In Wonder Women Sam Maggs offers quick biographies of twenty-five women in history who achieved great things and made some of humanity's most significant discoveries. Maggs does a fantastic job with this extremely readable examination of women you may or may not know who have left their mark on history.
The book starts with an introduction (quoted above) from Maggs before moving into the body of the text which is broken into five chapters titled Women of Science, Women of Medicine, Women of Espionage, Women of Innovation, and Women of Adventure. Each chapter showcases five different women organized chronologically with some women dating as far back as 1240 up to modern times.
Each chapter ends with a paragraph-length summaries of some other notable women in each category. Every section starts with an illustration of the woman featured and a quote. Maggs ends each chapter with an interview with a modern woman working in a related field (for the Women of Science chapter she interviews Dr. Lynn Conway, a computer scientist, electrical engineer, and science educator).
Maggs has carefully curated the group of women featured to create an inclusive group of women of all ages from around the world and a variety of backgrounds. Each biography segment offers just enough information to showcase each woman and pique readers' interest to research further with longer biographies.
Wonder Women includes some familiar suspects like Ada Lovelace, a British mathematician and first computer programmer, and Bessie Coleman, an African American Aviatrix who is roughly contemporary with Amelia Earhart. Maggs also showcases women who will not be as well-known to readers (even feminists who read a lot of biographies and non-fiction!) like Brita Tott (Danish and Swedish spy and forger), Noor Inayat Khan (Indian American Author and Allied spy), or Ynes Mexia (Mexican American botanist and explorer). Backmatter includes a bibliography and index.
Maggs' candid tone and chatty narrative style makes it easy to breeze through this book in one sitting while clear section breaks and varied material also make it great to read through and savor as a slower pace. Wonder Women is sure to appeal to reluctant readers, non-fiction enthusiasts, and anyone who enjoys a good biography. Highly recommended!
Possible Pairings: Spy on History: Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring by Enigma Albert and Tony Cliff; Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden, Mary Kay Kroeger, Teresa Flavin; Radioactive!: How Irène Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World by Winifred Conkling; Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales, Sophie Houser; Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman; I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy; The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Murder of the Century by Sarah Miller; Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly by Deborah Noyes; Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World by Ann Shen; Boss Babes: A Coloring and Activity Book for Grownups by Michelle Volansky
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
"So join me on a journey into the history of bad-as-heck babes. Just keep in mind that these are only some of the amazing women in the history of our world. Many more are out there, and many more are to come. In fact, you know what?
"You're next."
In Wonder Women Sam Maggs offers quick biographies of twenty-five women in history who achieved great things and made some of humanity's most significant discoveries. Maggs does a fantastic job with this extremely readable examination of women you may or may not know who have left their mark on history.
The book starts with an introduction (quoted above) from Maggs before moving into the body of the text which is broken into five chapters titled Women of Science, Women of Medicine, Women of Espionage, Women of Innovation, and Women of Adventure. Each chapter showcases five different women organized chronologically with some women dating as far back as 1240 up to modern times.
Each chapter ends with a paragraph-length summaries of some other notable women in each category. Every section starts with an illustration of the woman featured and a quote. Maggs ends each chapter with an interview with a modern woman working in a related field (for the Women of Science chapter she interviews Dr. Lynn Conway, a computer scientist, electrical engineer, and science educator).
Maggs has carefully curated the group of women featured to create an inclusive group of women of all ages from around the world and a variety of backgrounds. Each biography segment offers just enough information to showcase each woman and pique readers' interest to research further with longer biographies.
Wonder Women includes some familiar suspects like Ada Lovelace, a British mathematician and first computer programmer, and Bessie Coleman, an African American Aviatrix who is roughly contemporary with Amelia Earhart. Maggs also showcases women who will not be as well-known to readers (even feminists who read a lot of biographies and non-fiction!) like Brita Tott (Danish and Swedish spy and forger), Noor Inayat Khan (Indian American Author and Allied spy), or Ynes Mexia (Mexican American botanist and explorer). Backmatter includes a bibliography and index.
Maggs' candid tone and chatty narrative style makes it easy to breeze through this book in one sitting while clear section breaks and varied material also make it great to read through and savor as a slower pace. Wonder Women is sure to appeal to reluctant readers, non-fiction enthusiasts, and anyone who enjoys a good biography. Highly recommended!
Possible Pairings: Spy on History: Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring by Enigma Albert and Tony Cliff; Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden, Mary Kay Kroeger, Teresa Flavin; Radioactive!: How Irène Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World by Winifred Conkling; Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales, Sophie Houser; Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman; I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy; The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Murder of the Century by Sarah Miller; Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly by Deborah Noyes; Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World by Ann Shen; Boss Babes: A Coloring and Activity Book for Grownups by Michelle Volansky
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
Wonder Woman is a good start to further research into some amazing (and unsurprisingly often undervalued) women of history. I commend the Author on her choices of featured stories, I often found myself highlighting names in this book so that I could learn more in my own time. I also think it was a smart move to include a list of resources for young readers who may be inspired to join a related work field to the heroines of the novel - STEM, medicine and espionage. The author has compiled a great selection of interesting stories, however, the books writing style leaves something to be desired.
The language is very colloquial and subtracted from the books overall impact; it uses slang and expressions which are already very telling of the time it was written - a mere 6 years ago. Another particular issue I had with this book was the author constantly referred to every woman as geeks or nerds - "Not everyone is a science genius or a math whiz—those kinds of smarts are absolutely not prerequisites to joining the geeky gal party. Some brilliant ladies in history have made their mark by doing things no one had ever done before, going places no geek had ever gone, gathering materials and plants and measurements and stories no nerd had ever dared to explore.". I think this is a disservice to some of the powerful women in this book and trivialises the unique circumstances and motivations of each.
The language is very colloquial and subtracted from the books overall impact; it uses slang and expressions which are already very telling of the time it was written - a mere 6 years ago. Another particular issue I had with this book was the author constantly referred to every woman as geeks or nerds - "Not everyone is a science genius or a math whiz—those kinds of smarts are absolutely not prerequisites to joining the geeky gal party. Some brilliant ladies in history have made their mark by doing things no one had ever done before, going places no geek had ever gone, gathering materials and plants and measurements and stories no nerd had ever dared to explore.". I think this is a disservice to some of the powerful women in this book and trivialises the unique circumstances and motivations of each.