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thejourneyofmybooks405's review
4.0
The term, "squad", in relation to friendships, was extremely overused a few years ago, but the theory behind it is empowering. Pitting women against each other is a favorite past time of mainstream media, but there are several stories of women banning together and making an impact on history.
In "Girl Squads", author Sam Maggs tells 20 brief stories about about women working together and making a better life for themselves and the women that come after them. Some of the stories are well known, most recently with the African-American women of NASA who calculated the numbers to send the first man to the moon to the story behind the 3 women who currently sit on the Supreme Court. But have you heard the story of the Edinburgh Seven, who were the first women accepted into medical school in the United Kingdom? The Patriotic Women's League of Iran, which was composed of Persian women who fought for equal rights? Or the work a group of women did in Antarctica?
The stories are short and concise, but with some more research, any of these stories could be a full fledged book just asking for a movie adaptation. This was a fun, interesting history read and you will walk away continuing to be in awe of women and their accomplishments.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
In "Girl Squads", author Sam Maggs tells 20 brief stories about about women working together and making a better life for themselves and the women that come after them. Some of the stories are well known, most recently with the African-American women of NASA who calculated the numbers to send the first man to the moon to the story behind the 3 women who currently sit on the Supreme Court. But have you heard the story of the Edinburgh Seven, who were the first women accepted into medical school in the United Kingdom? The Patriotic Women's League of Iran, which was composed of Persian women who fought for equal rights? Or the work a group of women did in Antarctica?
The stories are short and concise, but with some more research, any of these stories could be a full fledged book just asking for a movie adaptation. This was a fun, interesting history read and you will walk away continuing to be in awe of women and their accomplishments.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
elyseng's review
4.0
3,5*
Good table read. I found the entries to be unequally interesting. Some of them lost themselves in contextualization and almost forgot about their main angle : female squads/ friendship.
Despite the over-wordiness of the book, I'm happy I could learn about otherwise unknown women.
Good table read. I found the entries to be unequally interesting. Some of them lost themselves in contextualization and almost forgot about their main angle : female squads/ friendship.
Despite the over-wordiness of the book, I'm happy I could learn about otherwise unknown women.
andrea_connors's review
4.0
*I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review*
There have been a lot of women/girls biography books come out in the past few years and I have read most of them, but this book brings something new to the genre for a few reasons.
1. It focuses on groups of women. Women are so often pitted against each other but this book shows how friendships made these women great.
2. The stories are longer. Instead of just short intros into a person, these stories are much longer, which means that you can get into more of their lives and who they really are.
Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I think that it will be a great book especially for tween and teens, but even I learned a lot about women that I had never heard of before.
There have been a lot of women/girls biography books come out in the past few years and I have read most of them, but this book brings something new to the genre for a few reasons.
1. It focuses on groups of women. Women are so often pitted against each other but this book shows how friendships made these women great.
2. The stories are longer. Instead of just short intros into a person, these stories are much longer, which means that you can get into more of their lives and who they really are.
Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I think that it will be a great book especially for tween and teens, but even I learned a lot about women that I had never heard of before.
righter_of_words's review
4.0
I received an advance copy of this book.
Girl Squads is a very interesting read—I had never heard of lots of the women talked about in it. These mini biographies seem well researched, full of detail, and are written in a casual, engaging way. The women profiled are diverse and lived in all different time periods, came from different backgrounds, and impacted the world in different ways. I wish sometimes that the profiles had been more in depth, but I suppose that means the book did its job in making me want to learn more about some of these remarkable people.
Read my full review here: https://righterofwords.com/2020/03/17/book-reviews-my-international-womens-day-reads/
Girl Squads is a very interesting read—I had never heard of lots of the women talked about in it. These mini biographies seem well researched, full of detail, and are written in a casual, engaging way. The women profiled are diverse and lived in all different time periods, came from different backgrounds, and impacted the world in different ways. I wish sometimes that the profiles had been more in depth, but I suppose that means the book did its job in making me want to learn more about some of these remarkable people.
Read my full review here: https://righterofwords.com/2020/03/17/book-reviews-my-international-womens-day-reads/
easyqueenie's review
4.0
Written by Sam Maggs (whose Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy I loved when I read it several years ago), Girl Squads is a collection of biographical vignettes that focus on groups of women, including sisters, friends, *ahem* “gal-pals,” colleagues, and more. Rather than focusing specifically on an individual women’s achievements, it instead looks at the way women can empower one another to do great things when they have a squad of other awesome women behind them.
It is easily the most colloquial of all the books, leading to the sensation that you’re sat sharing drinks with Sam as she chats away about the amazing women she has learned about that day. It’s filled with snark, sarcasm, and nerdy references—in the chapter about the women of SCOTUS, Sam tells us that “when their judicial superpowers combine, they become the VOLTRON of powerful female friendships”—which makes it a whole lot of fun to read. The bios in this book are also the longest by far, with each Squad receiving a full chapter over several pages to cover its exploits. This means that you can’t dip in and out nearly as quickly as you can with the other books but makes it great if you want something that little bit more thorough without reading a full-length biography.
This book also contained some of the least famous women included across all the books here, which made it very refreshing. The 1964 Japanese Women’s Volleyball Team, the Patriotic Women’s League of Iran, the Haenyeo Free-Divers of the Korea Strait, and the Trobairitz Feminist Musicians of Medieval France might not be the first groups that spring to your mind when you think of inspiring girl groups, but their stories are amazing and deserve to be better known. The book is divided into five sections, Athlete Squads, Political and Activist Squads, Warrior Squads, Scientist Squads, and Artist Squads, which gives you an idea of the variety of achievements covered in its pages.
It is easily the most colloquial of all the books, leading to the sensation that you’re sat sharing drinks with Sam as she chats away about the amazing women she has learned about that day. It’s filled with snark, sarcasm, and nerdy references—in the chapter about the women of SCOTUS, Sam tells us that “when their judicial superpowers combine, they become the VOLTRON of powerful female friendships”—which makes it a whole lot of fun to read. The bios in this book are also the longest by far, with each Squad receiving a full chapter over several pages to cover its exploits. This means that you can’t dip in and out nearly as quickly as you can with the other books but makes it great if you want something that little bit more thorough without reading a full-length biography.
This book also contained some of the least famous women included across all the books here, which made it very refreshing. The 1964 Japanese Women’s Volleyball Team, the Patriotic Women’s League of Iran, the Haenyeo Free-Divers of the Korea Strait, and the Trobairitz Feminist Musicians of Medieval France might not be the first groups that spring to your mind when you think of inspiring girl groups, but their stories are amazing and deserve to be better known. The book is divided into five sections, Athlete Squads, Political and Activist Squads, Warrior Squads, Scientist Squads, and Artist Squads, which gives you an idea of the variety of achievements covered in its pages.
lela's review
4.0
This book is a celebration of female friendship.
From Queens and princesses to members of oppressed communities all across the globe and throughout history, this book tells 20 diverse and inspiring stories of groups of amazing, badass women. Divided into 5 sections - athletes, politicians/activists, warriors, scientists, and artist - Maggs shows how much determination and strength women have had to have in order to be allowed to achieve what they've always been capable of and how the priceless a group of other women fighting alongside you is.
The only major fault I find with this book is Maggs parenthetical commentary that will certainly date this book when it's pick up by someone in 5 years - it seemed to be constantly weaving over a fine line between endearing and annoying.
Despite this, Girl Squads is still a very enjoyable and inspiring read that I'd certainly recommend to anyone wanting to celebrate the power of a group of ambitious and supportive women.
From Queens and princesses to members of oppressed communities all across the globe and throughout history, this book tells 20 diverse and inspiring stories of groups of amazing, badass women. Divided into 5 sections - athletes, politicians/activists, warriors, scientists, and artist - Maggs shows how much determination and strength women have had to have in order to be allowed to achieve what they've always been capable of and how the priceless a group of other women fighting alongside you is.
The only major fault I find with this book is Maggs parenthetical commentary that will certainly date this book when it's pick up by someone in 5 years - it seemed to be constantly weaving over a fine line between endearing and annoying.
Despite this, Girl Squads is still a very enjoyable and inspiring read that I'd certainly recommend to anyone wanting to celebrate the power of a group of ambitious and supportive women.
wordsofapaige's review
4.0
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sam Maggs has put together a wonderful book that details the lives and feats of some of histories greatest Girl Squads. The reader is taken through warrior squads, artist squads, scientist squads and many more, there are 20 stories within this book and while Maggs can't give every story huge amounts of detail what Maggs does give you is a great outline of each group, where you can go off and add even more detail yourself if you wish to. But that's not to say that the content in this book isn't enough, it's a really, really great starting point and provides inspiration for everyone who reads it.
I love Maggs' writing style. It's chatty, and casual while also being informative. The little comments that Maggs puts in every now and again gives the author a voice, and stops the book from just being your average non-fiction, fact book. It gave Maggs a personality and allowed her to comment on things without interrupting the flow of the book.
If you need to feel empowered, this is the book for you.
Sam Maggs has put together a wonderful book that details the lives and feats of some of histories greatest Girl Squads. The reader is taken through warrior squads, artist squads, scientist squads and many more, there are 20 stories within this book and while Maggs can't give every story huge amounts of detail what Maggs does give you is a great outline of each group, where you can go off and add even more detail yourself if you wish to. But that's not to say that the content in this book isn't enough, it's a really, really great starting point and provides inspiration for everyone who reads it.
I love Maggs' writing style. It's chatty, and casual while also being informative. The little comments that Maggs puts in every now and again gives the author a voice, and stops the book from just being your average non-fiction, fact book. It gave Maggs a personality and allowed her to comment on things without interrupting the flow of the book.
If you need to feel empowered, this is the book for you.