School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up-Eye-catching layouts with good use of color, photographs, and informative sidebars, many of which use primary-source quotations, are the highlights of these appealing volumes. Each one consists of a brief introduction and eight topical chapters. After a succinct overview of contemporary events, the chapters describe women's lives at home, at work, in education, in politics, in the arts, and their role in the general culture. Women of color are included, often in a separate chapter. Women at War explores the changing role of women during the Progressive Era, the impact of World War I on their lives, and the struggle for voting rights. The Great Depression surveys an era after women won the right to vote and when the nation's economic crash placed new hardships on families. New opportunities for women were a part of the New Deal and World War II and together changed American culture-these topics are explored in the volume covering the years 1938-1960. The Modern Feminist Movement delves into the years of protest and quest for equal rights. The final volume, Women of Today, highlights women's achievements, including U.S. Supreme Court justices, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and presidential candidates. These volumes are rapid reads and introduce a wide range of political, economic, social, and cultural history. Readers are sure to linger over the excellent selection of photographs. Worthy additions for all history collections.-Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Highly readable, this large, illustrated book in the new Cultural History of Women in America series shows how WWII and its aftermath dramatically changed women's lives at home, at work, and in politics. Every double-page spread includes several photos, small screens with Turning Points (the Pill; Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit. about the horrors of lynching; and many more), and short biographies of landmark figures, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe, Rachel Carson, and Lucille Ball. Much more than just a simplistic overview, this title includes a chapter on the nonwhite experience, which shows that the lives of black women were very different from most whites. During the war, women moved into jobs vacated by men, but even after the war, when the pressure on women to stay home was intense ( A woman isn't a woman until she's been married and has children ), consumerism and independence continued to spark the quest for paid work and a world beyond the doormat. The extensive, spacious back matter includes a time line, a glossary, a bibliography, and websites.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist