Book Reviews
Jo Freeman Reviews: Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé
What do Abigail Adams and Beyonce have in common? Elizabeth Coombs says they are both feminist patriots, a label she also applies to Phyllis Schlafly and Mary Church Terrell. This book profiles over nine women, some extensively, to illustrate how the drive for sex equality continues the ideals of the American revolution. Not all of the women in this book are public figures. Even those who were purely private had something to say as they fought for female independence. more »
Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library
Julia Sneden Wrote: My mind’s eye can still see the face of the Children’s Librarian, although I have long since forgotten her name. We will be wise to continue to back up our knowledge of history and literature and art and science with hard copy. She kept up with my reading level, suggesting writers and books that she thought I might enjoy, feeding my curiosity and interests. I believe that curiosity is genetically programmed into every child. The first way a child explores the world is through direct, sensory experience. Later on, the mastery of spoken language (oh, those questions!) provides information, but ultimately, it is learning how to read that opens a child’s mind to the endless possibilities of a world of literature and science and history and human thought." more »
Jo Freeman Reviews: The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, A Novel by William Alsup
Jo Freeman Reviews: "You read dialogue and details and personal stories that you won’t find in official testimony. Reading the Warren Commission volumes might not be exciting, but this book is. The questions and answers in the trial have to be fiction, because Oswald never went on trial. But.... you still feel like you have a front row seat in the court room. There are plenty of conspiracy theories, both real and fictional... These were enhanced by the fact that Oswald had trained as a Marine marksman and then defected to Russia. He married a Russian woman and returned to the US. The author had his pick of theories to complicate the “trial,” without picking any of them.... There were also quite a few mysteries. People disagreed over whether they heard three, four, or five shots. They also disagreed over where they came from. Why were only two bullets found? The lawyers in the book debate these mysteries as they try to figure out what really happened." more »
Jo Freeman Reviews: The Moment: Changemakers on Why and How They Joined the Fight for Social Justice
Jo Freeman Reviews: After publishing his last book in 1921, based on memories and interviews with civil rights icon C.T. Vivian, Steve Fiffer wanted to do more like it. He felt that many lesser-known people had stories that needed to be told. His publisher concurred. It does help to start with an interested publisher. At that time it was NewSouth books. By the time the book came out in November 2022, NewSouth had become an imprint of the University of Georgia Press.
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