By Mila Vincent with Nancy Churnin~
Mila Vincent, our six-year-old book and theater critic, is celebrating Women’s History Month, with She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton (illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Philomel Books). Check out her review as she teams up with her grandmother, Johannah Luza, to share their thoughts from a grandchild/grandparent perspective.
She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World
Author: Chelsea Clinton
Illustrator: Alexandra Boiger
Publisher: Philomel Books
Mila: This book tells about thirteen American women who changed the world. I had three favorites. Virginia Apgar had a baby brother who was very sick. When she grew up, she decided to be a surgeon, but the head of the hospital said that wasn’t a good job for a woman. But Virginia Apgar never gave up. She invented a test to tell how healthy a newborn was. They named it after her, the Apgar score. My mom told me they even did that test on me when I was born!
My other favorite was Maria Tallchief. She wanted to be a ballerina, but kids teased her because she was Native American. People even told her to make her last name Russian because most good ballerinas were Russian. But she persisted! And she became a great ballerina!
My third favorite was Florence Griffith Joyner. She had to quit school to help support her family, but she kept running. Her dad told her to run as fast as a jackrabbit. She got to go back to college, and she broke the world record in the Olympics.
Johannah: This is a great book to celebrate women! Each woman’s story is one page long with eye-catching illustrations. Adults will enjoy it as much as kids.
