School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-10-This collection profiles 12 courageous African-American women. The individuals range from civil rights fighters to community workers, from artists to astronauts, and include Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Bessie and Sadie Delany, Septima Poinsette Clark, Ella Josephine Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Marian Wright Edelman, Alice Walker, Alexa Canady, and Mae C. Jemison. The book developed from a series of posters issued by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project of the National Health and Human Service Employees Union (AFL-CIO) to provide images of women who have fought against injustice. The series has been widely distributed to schools, colleges, and libraries across the country and may be familiar to readers. Hansen has added a clear, readable, and informative single-page commentary for each of the striking black-and-white portraits. The book has a child-friendly design; its oversized pages allow for easy-to-read type and effective display of the images. An annotated bibliography concludes this attractive and useful volume.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Inspired by a series of black-and-white posters produced by Bread and Roses (the cultural project of 1199 National Health and Human Services Employees Union, AFL-CIO), these brief biographies feature the inspiring lives of 13 African American women. On the left of each spread is a dramatic sepia-toned photograph framed with a white border, along with a quote and the birthplace and birth date of its subject. On the facing page, a concise summary sketches the highlights of each woman's life in celebratory, but never fawning, prose; direct quotes allow each woman to speak directly to readers about her own beliefs and the legacy she hopes to pass on. The volume proceeds chronologically, with social and political activists (Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Ella Josephine Baker up through Marian Wright Edelman) as well as artistic and professional groundbreakers (Ruby Dee, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker; Alexa Canady, the first African-American woman neurosurgeon, and Mae C. Jemison, the first African-American woman astronaut). With this structure, Hansen (The Captive) creates a sense of the expanding horizon of opportunities that African-American women have gained as the century has progressed. The arresting portraits, set within a sophisticated design, are reproduced with the care of an art book, and they reveal a great deal about each woman's strength of character. This handsome volume will likely engender in readers an appreciation for life's countless possibilities, and send them scrambling to find out more about these extraordinary women. Ages 8-up. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Stunning black-and-white photographs and crisp writing frame twelve short biographies of African-American women, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Alice Walker, and Mae C. Jemison, who have made history with their remarkable contributions. Hansen provides just enough detail to inform readers and invites them to delve further into each woman's distinguished life. A list of additional extraordinary African-American women is included. Bib. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A gorgeous series of black-and-white photographic portraits that were part of a campaign to show people, especially young African-Americans, that ""greatness looks like. them"" form the heart of this book. Hansen (Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence, p. 404, etc.) provides, for every portrait, a one-page biography of its subject. Among the dozen women included are the actress Ruby Dee, writer Alice Walker, neurosurgeon Alexa Canady, astronaut Mae C. Jemison, activist Fannie Lou Hamer, and teacher Miss Seppie (Septima Poinsette Clark). The format is inflexible; the biographical information is occasionally unduly truncated, e.g., of Maya Angelou's childhood trauma, Hansen says ""her song was silenced by a terrible experience and she stopped speaking."" This is inspirational, but it's also effective as art and as history. A list of ""More Women of Hope"" is appended. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5^-12. Based on a poster series created by Bread and Roses, a cultural project of the AFL-CIO, these profiles of 13 great black leaders are presented as inspirational role models for young people. There are famous civil rights activists (including Fannie Lou Hamer and Marian Wright Edelman), writers and artists (including Ruby Dee and Maya Angelou), and lastly astronaut Mae C. Jemison. For each woman there is a full-page photograph, sepia-colored or black-and-white; opposite is a one-page biography that focuses on her public role and lasting political influence. In keeping with the poster format, the prose has a lot of platform rhetoric ("Her life and work set a shining example of how integrity and pride . . ."), and after a while, all the voices begin to sound the same. However, the photographs are stunning, and the handsome large-size volume, with a famous picture of Alice Walker on the cover, will grab attention. There are no sources for quotes, but the book ends with a short bibliography and a briefly annotated list of "More Women of Hope." --Hazel Rochman
