Recent Books That Reflect Diverse Womens' Experiences For Kids, Teens, & Adults
Women's History Month has come and gone, but the staff of Mulberry Street Branch are keeping the vibe going with this booklist celebrating outstanding women and their extraordinary accomplishments.
Kids
Recommended by Annie Lin and Meghan Klaus
Ada Lovelace Cracks the Codeby Corinne Purtill; illustrated by Marina Muun
Growing up in nineteenth century London, England, Ada is curious about absolutely everything. She is obsessed with machines and with creatures that fly. She even designs her own flying laboratory! This book presents a fictional account of the life of Ada Lovelace, one of the world's first computer programmers.
Born Curious: 20 Girls Who Grew Up To Be Awesome Scientists by Martha Freeman; illustrated by Katy Wu
A collection of short biographies introduces the lives and achievements of 20 remarkable women scientists and mathematicians who made the world a safer place, from geologist Adriana Ocampo to pharmacologist Tu Youyou.
A Girl Named Rosita: The Story of Rita Moreno: Actor, Singer, Dancer, Trailblazer! by Anika Aldamuy Denise; illustrated by Leo Espinosa
The life of Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer Rita Moreno, from her girlhood journey to the United States to her rise as a timeless superstar.
Fancy Party Gowns: The Story of Fashion Designer Ann Cole Lowe by Deborah Blumenthal; illustrated by Laura Freeman
This beautiful picture book tells the story of Ann Cole Lowe, a little-known African American fashion designer who battled personal and social adversity in order to pursue her passion of making beautiful gowns and went on to become one of society’s top designers.
The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadidby Jeanette Winter
An introduction to the life and achievements of famed architect Zaha Hadid describes how as a child in Baghdad she dreamed of designing her own cities before pursuing an education and launching her famed studio, in a picture book portrait that shares insights into the challenges she overcame as a Muslim woman.
It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Kyo Maclear; illustrated by Julia Morstad
From beloved team Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad (creators of Julia, Child and Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli) comes an elegant picture book biography that portrays the most moving moments in the life of Gyo Fujikawa, a groundbreaking Japanese American hero in the fight for racial diversity in picture books.
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali
A picture book tribute to the achievements of activist Jennifer Keelan describes her diagnosis with cerebral palsy at birth, the limitations she overcame to pursue life on her own terms and her 8-year-old participation in the Capital Crawl on behalf of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Noisemakers: 25 Women Who Raised Their Voices & Changed the World: A Graphic Collection from Kazoo
The Kazoo magazine editor-in-chief and a selection of leading women comic artists profile the lives of 25 remarkable women role models who changed history, from Raye Montague, who revolutionized ship design, to Kate Warne, a detective who saved Abraham Lincoln’s life.
Teens
Recommended by Alex Kohn and Anne Rouyer
Fiction
Fair is Foul by Hannah Capin
In this retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Elle and her friends get their bloody revenge on a group of L.A. prep school boys after one of them is raped and assaulted at a party. Shakespeare meets Heathers meets Kill Bill.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
In this modern twist on the classic King Arthur story, Bree attends UNC-Chapel Hill’s early college program. Still looking for answers after her mother’s death, she discovers a historic traditionally white magic secret society on campus that she joins in the hope of finding answers, both about her mother, the secret society, and herself.
Furiaby Yamile Saied Mendez
In present day Argentina, Camilla lives a double life. Under the gaze of her abusive father she’s a dutiful daughter but on the futbol pitch, she is a powerhouse player known as Furia. As her futbol team qualifies for big tournaments, her dream of playing in the U.S. gets closer but her secrets and fears could hold her back.
Music from Another Worldby Robin Talley
In summer 1977, closeted lesbian Tammy is isolated by her conservative Christian family and community and is tired of pretending to be someone she’s not. Through a pen pal program she’s matched with Sharon and they’re soon bonding over punk music and shared secrets. As anti-gay fervor swirls around them, they’ll discover who they are, what they’ll fight for and who’ll they’ll rise against.
I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
All her life, Southern California teen Skye Shin has heard that fat girls shouldn’t dance, shouldn’t wear bright colors or call attention to themselves but she knows she’s talented so she takes a chance and enters a K-Pop TV talent competition. Fighting bullies, rigid Korean beauty standards and the disapproval of her own mother, Skye is about to show the world what fat girls can do.
Nonfiction
Feminism Is …..by Alexandra Black, Laura Buller, Emily Hoyle, and Dr. Megan Todd
A book on the history, pioneers, theories, questions, arguments, and daily reality of feminism today. Find out what equality for women really means, get a short history of feminism, and take a look at the issues that affect women at work, in the home, and around sex and identity.
Votes for Women! American Suffragettes and the Battle for the Ballot by Winifred Conkling
The story of the 80 year fight to win the passage of the 19th Amendment and the right to vote. From Seneca Falls in 1848 to its final passage in 1920, the book traces the different campaigns, protests and women whose passion and dedication made it all possible. An unflinching look at all the highs, lows, mistakes and triumphs of a movement that still inspires political and social activism today.
Amazons, Abolitionists and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight For Their Rights by Mikki Kendall
A graphic primer of women’s history and the women that made it all possible. From antiquity to the modern era, find stories of queens and freedom fighters to warriors and spies—and the progressive movements led by women that have shaped history, including abolition, suffrage, labor, civil rights, LGBTQ liberation, reproductive rights, and more.
Girls Write Now: Two Decades of True Stories from Young Female Voices by Girls Write Now
Real girls tell their stories in personal essays that give an intimate portrait of teenage-girl life in the United States over the past twenty years. These young writers tackle issues of race, gender, poverty, sex, education, politics, family, and friendship and lay bare hopes, insecurities, and wisdom for the future. Interwoven is advice from great women writers, offering guidance to a young reader about where she's been and where she might go.
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Story of Black Lives Matter & the Power to Change the Worldby Patriss Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
A memoir of one of the women who started the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Khan-Cullors grew up in an over-policed America and learned the language of social activism at a young age. As she grew, she gathered the knowledge and tools necessary to help her co-found one of the most powerful political and social justice movements of the 21st century. An empowering and inspiring true story of love and justice.
Adults
Recommended by Denise Jarrott and Sherri Machlin
Fiction
Pizza Girl: A Novelby Jean Kyuong Frazier
Delivering pizzas in suburban Los Angeles, a pregnant teen mourning the death of her father becomes obsessed with a middle-aged stay-at-home mom who comes to depend on weekly pizza deliveries for her son’s happiness.
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
Told in vignettes that occur in American and Middle East settings, a debut novel follows the experiences of a young Palestinian-American who is marginalized for her sexual orientation before the traumas of her past drive her toward self-destructive impulses.
Of Women and Saltby Gabriela Garcia
The daughter of a Cuban immigrant battles addiction and the fallout of her decision to take in the child of an ICE detainee, while her mother wrestles with displacement trauma and complicated family ties.
The Eighth Girl by Maxine Mei-Fung Chung
A woman with multiple personality disorder finds her other selves becoming assets and vulnerabilities in her effort to rescue her friend, a worker at a London gentlemen’s club who has uncovered a dangerous secret.
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Coming of age as a free-born Black woman in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie Sampson struggles against her mother’s medical aspirations for her when she finds herself more drawn to a musical career that could compromise her autonomy.
Nonfiction/Memoir/Essays
Thick: and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom
The sociologist describes her childhood and her experiences as an African American woman dealing with issues of race, gender, sexism, violence, and economic inequality.
The Barbizon: The Hotel that Set Women Free by Paulino Bren
The Barbizon tells the story of New York's most glamorous women-only hotel, and the women-both famous and ordinary-who passed through its doors. World War I had liberated women from home and hearth, setting them on the path to political enfranchisement and gainful employment. Arriving in New York to work in the dazzling new skyscrapers, they did not want to stay in uncomfortable boarding houses; they wanted what men already had-exclusive residential hotels that catered to their needs, with daily maid service, cultural programs, workout rooms, and private dining. The Barbizon would become the most famous residential hotel of them all, welcoming everyone from aspiring actresses, dancers, and fashion models to seamstresses, secretaries, and nurses.
Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto by Legacy Russell
A new manifesto for cyberfeminism. The divide between the digital and the real world no longer exists: we are connected all the time. How do we find out who we are within this digital era? Where do we create the space to explore our identity? How can we come together and create solidarity? In Glitch Feminism, Russell makes a series of radical demands through memoir, art and critical theory, and the work of contemporary artists who have travelled through the glitch in their work.Timely and provocative, Glitch Feminism shows how the error can be a revolution.
Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener by Kimberly A. Hamlin
A story of transgression in the face of religious ideology, a sexist scientific establishment, and political resistance to securing women’s right to vote.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer
As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, she explores these themes she circles toward a central argument: the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world.
The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas by Robert Zaresky
Known as the patron saint of all outsiders, Simone Weil (1909-43) was one of the twentieth century's most remarkable thinkers, a philosopher who truly lived by her political and ethical ideals. In a short life framed by the two world wars, Weil taught philosophy to students and organized union workers, fought alongside anarchists during the Spanish Civil War and labored alongside workers on assembly lines, joined the Free French movement in London and died in despair because she was not sent to France to help the Resistance.
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Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.