Saturday Morning Cartoons- Wonderful Women of the World

Happy New Year. Of course, the real new year starts the Tuesday after Labor Day, but I'll play along. The interwebs are awash with people posting best of lists, reading stats, and other... booky things that I just can't get interested in.  I'm also having a lot of trouble caring about Twitter. I would rather read books. Or blogs with book reviews. I can spend about ten minutes on Twitter before I get itchy and have to get off the computer. 

Here is as far as I have gotten with statistics:

 

Wonderful Women of the World. Laurie Halse Anderson (Author), Lilliam Rivera (Author), Kami Garcia (Author), Cecil Castellucci (Author), Cat Staggs (Artist), Carina Guevara (Artist), Robyn Smith (Artist), Igzell (Artist) 

September 28th 2021 by DC Comics 

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

In this comic style collective biography, a wide range of women and their accomplishments are highlighted. These range from the well known (Beyonce, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Serena Williams, and Greta Thunberg) to the less well known (Keiko Agena, Mariana Costa Checa, Leiomy Maldonado). Not only are there a variety of careers and life paths portrayed, but a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and identities. It's nice to see that this diversity is also evident in the authors and illustrators. Many well known Young Adult authors are represented, such as Melissa Marr, Traci Sorrell, and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. 

The stories vary in styles and approaches, but all highlight the activities of the woman being covered. There are many back stories, and good coverage of the influential work. For example, Judith Heumann's story covers her childhood and discusses how people with disabilities were treated, and how she worked to change this. The book is broken down into five categories, including Strength, Compassion, Justice, Truth, and Equality. 

This is very dense with information, and the print is very small in order to fit so much in and still include the detailed, richly colored illustrations. This is fine for high school readers, but middle grade ones who are drawn to the graphic novel format because it is easier to read might struggle with this. 

Wonderful Women of the World is an excellent resource to add to a biography collection that includes Vashti Harrison's Little Leaders, The Great Book of Badass Women: 15 Fearless and Inspirational Women that Changed History by Rachel Walsh, 50 Fearless Women Who Made American History: An American History Book for Kids by Jenifer Bazzit and Krull's First Ladies.