Independent Dames: What You Never Knew about the Women and Girls of the American Revolution

Description: With superbly researched information and detailed illustrations, Anderson and Faulkner combine historical facts and humor together in this engaging--and long overdue--homage to the women and the role they played in the founding of America. Full color.

Brief description: Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity. She's twice been a National Book Award finalist, for Chains and Speak; Chains also received the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Laurie was chosen for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award and received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023, presented to her by the Crown Princess of Sweden. She lives in Pennsylvania, and you can follow her adventures on X @HalseAnderson or visit her at MadWomanintheForest.com.

Review Quotes: "A stirring portrait of the women who made America possible.

Beginning with the scene of a school play about the Founding Fathers, Anderson declares that if we look only at them we are missing half of the story. Then she begins with small vignettes of some of our heroines. Sybil Ludington rode longer than Paul Revere and didn't get caught! The Daughters of Liberty make an appearance, along with nine-year-old Susan Boudinot who protested at a tea party of the Royal Governor. Writers (Phyllis Wheatley), soldiers (Deborah Sampson), spies, scouts, nurses, and the wives of the patriots all get their due via a small fact and portrait....

[Anderson] keeps the text lively and encourages young readers to find out more. At the bottom of each picture Anderson includes a timeline of events and defines some of the terms, making the book even more information rich. At the end of the forty-page book, she adds material on other women and a great bibliography. This short text lends itself to all kinds of activities or acts simply as a supplement for more traditional texts. Anderson's research is thorough and her understanding of young readers, as always, is profound. When I conducted an informal poll of school librarians and teachers, Independent Dames emerged as their favorite book for Women's History Month. Writing with passion and humor, Laurie Halse Anderson is on a mission to set the record straight. And she does!"--Anita Silvey "Anita Silvey's Children's Book-A-Day Almanac"