School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-5A collection of alphabetically arranged, easy-to-read biographies on some well-known Revolutionary War figures such as Abigail Adams and Betsy Ross and lesser-known heroines, including Emily Geiger and Sybil Ludington. Each three-to-four page biographical sketch starts with a bit of information about the Revolution and goes on to explain how the woman was involved in it and what she did to distinguish herself. No other biographical data is included. Interesting little tidbits on different aspects of life during the war, such as travel, beds, tea, handicrafts, etc., appear throughout in gray-shaded fact boxes. Unfortunately, undocumented dialogue and feelings appear in almost every chapter. Full-color illustrations, many of them full-page, set the time and place and enliven the text. There is a simple map of the colonies in the 1770s, a brief history of the American flag with pictures, a good index, and a chronology of important dates and events. An attractive offeringas long as children are aware that, despite its Dewey classification, this is not truly nonfiction.Evelyn Butrico, formerly at Cold Spring Harbor Library, Greenlawn, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-6. In 24 short chapters, this book profiles 25 women who contributed to the colonists' cause during the American Revolution. Besides the more familiar women, such as Abigail Adams, Deborah Sampson, and Phillis Wheatley, a number of unfamiliar figures emerge, such as Martha Bratton of Charleston, South Carolina, who exploded a supply of gunpowder rather than surrender it to the British, and Patience Wright, an American sculptor in London who smuggled secret messages out of England by hiding them in wax statues shipped to American museums. Though marred by occasional fictionalization in the form of invented thoughts and conversations, the text generally reads well. Dramatic full-color paintings illustrate the stories effectively, and the inclusion of 10 southern women provides a balance of coverage missing from many books on the Revolution. --Carolyn Phelan
