BookDragon Girl power Tag
The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour
06 Jul, by in Arab, Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers
“Girls don’t ride bicycles,” Wadja hears repeatedly. Being an 11-year-old in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, she finds herself constantly at odds with the societal limitations of her gender, from being forced to wear the all-covering abaya to adjusting her feisty behavior in too many restrictive ways. When...
The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd [in School Library Journal]
05 Jun, by in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
*STARRED REVIEW Emma Casey, her brother Topher, and their Granny Blue call the Boneyard Café home. On weekends, Emma conducts tours of the haunted graveyard next door, while Topher warms visitors with his irresistible peach-lavender muffins and famous Boneyard Brew (aka hot chocolate). When their cozy haven...
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo [in School Library Journal]
02 Jun, by in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
*STARRED REVIEW Before they became the Three Rancheros, the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition brought Raymie Clarke, Louisiana Elefante, and Beverly Tapinski together – each for wildly different reasons. Raymie is convinced that when her philandering father, who's run off with the dental hygienist, sees a...
Princess Li | La Princesa Li by Luis Amavisca, illustrated by Elena Rendeiro, translated by Robin Sinclair
26 May, by in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Spanish, Translation
Here's a "Once upon a time"-sort of tale most of us old folks didn't grow up with! Brave new world indeed! Meet Princess Li who lives somewhere "far away in the East" in a gorgeous palace with her King-ly father. Being admired for her great beauty...
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge [in Shelf Awareness]
13 Apr, by in British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers
"A girl cannot be brave, or clever, or skilled as a boy can. If she is not good, she is nothing," an angry Reverend Erasmus Sunderly admonished his usually obedient 14-year-old-daughter, Faith. His words are harsh, but in Victorian England, not without societal support. He...
Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee [in Shelf Awareness]
30 Mar, by in Chinese American, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers
Even as Mercy Wong's father expects that she will marry the herbalist's son and be a "meek" wife, he also insists that she never stop learning because she must "be as smart as the white ghosts." In San Francisco's Chinatown in 1906, 15-year-old Mercy's graduation from...
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor [in School Library Journal]
14 Mar, by in Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers
*STARRED REVIEW At 16, Binti embarks on an interplanetary voyage to Oomza Uni, the galaxy's supreme institution of higher learning. As the first of her people offered such an opportunity, she leaves home without even warning her family of her departure. When the vessel is attacked by...
Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine by Heather Lang, illustrated by Raúl Colón [in Booklist]
11 Jan, by in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Latina/o/x, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost
*STARRED REVIEW It’s true: “When Ruth Law made up her mind, there was no use trying to stop her.” With tenacious aplomb, Law announced that she would fly from Chicago to New York in one day – a distance, in 1916, that had never before been...
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes [in Library Journal]
04 Jan, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost
*STARRED REVIEW Rhimes has become one of television's most powerful women – her ShondaLand production company owns Thursday night with Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away with Murder. But career success aside, Rhimes is an introvert who was perfectly happy turning down most of...
Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López
28 Dec, by in Biography, Black/African American, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Cuban, Cuban American, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latin American, Latina/o/x, Nonfiction
Thank the stars for all the women who never succumbed to 'you can't' and 'you're not allowed,' and the constant cacophony of insistent 'no's. Meet another such hero: drum dream girl. In spite of her strikingly diverse heritage – Chinese, African, and Cuban! – all her elders agree...
For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story by Rebecca Langston-George, illustrated by Janna Bock
12 Oct, by in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Pakistani
As deemed in 2011 by the United Nations, October 11 is the International Day of the Girl. BookDragon is officially whoo-hooo-ing a day later (although I'm all for every day being IDG anyway!). Perhaps the world's most recognized 'girl' is Malala Yousafzai who, at 15, was shot three times...
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
25 Aug, by in Absolute Favorites, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
Allow me to dispel any notions that the dragons within are why I'm insisting this is one of my Absolute Favorites ever. Plenty of other reasons make Nimona an irresistible delight: allow me to count at least the top-10 ways ...
The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle by Jude Isabella, illustrated by Simone Shin
15 Jul, by in African, Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Korean American
For two years, young Leo has worked hard to pay for his bicycle, which he affectionately names Big Red. As rewarding as the boy-and-his-bike relationship has been, Leo is still growing ...
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
14 Jul, by in Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers
Out when and where they shouldn't be on a chilly October night, Stella and her brother Jojo witness "[n]ine robed figures dressed all in white," gathered around a single wooden cross ablaze. In 1932, Bumblebee, North Carolina is small enough that most of the townspeople know one another,...
Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back by Janice P. Nimura [in Christian Science Monitor]
06 May, by in Adult Readers, Biography, Japanese, Japanese American, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers
Daughters of the Samurai profiles three remarkable women who influenced modern Japanese history Set aside ample time: You won’t welcome intrusions while reading this unprecedented, true story featuring young Japanese girls who arrived stateside without language or cultural training, and matured into three of the most...