Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (a Love Story)

Description: A propulsive biography about groundbreaking political activist Emma Goldman from National Book Award Finalist and "nonfiction maestro" (Horn Book) Deborah Heiligman

Brief description: Deborah Heiligman​ has written many books for children and young​ adults, including Torpedoed: The True Story of the​ World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship," a​ YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award finalist and Golden Kite winner; Vincent and Theo: ​ The Van Gogh Brothers, a Michael L. Printz​ Honor winner, YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction​ Award winner, Boston Globe-Horn Book​ Award winner, and Golden Kite winner; Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith,​ a National Book Award finalist, Michael L.​ Printz Honor winner, and YALSA Excellence​ in Nonfiction Award winner​; and Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story). She lives with her​ husband and dog in New York City.​ ​

Review Quotes:

A National Jewish Book Awards Finalist
An SCBWI Golden Kite Award Finalist
A Chicago Public Library Best Books of the Year Selection
A New York Public Library Best Books of the Year Selection: Top 10 Books for Teens
A Booklist Editors' Choice List Selection
A Rise: A Feminist Book Project Top Ten Selection
A Jewish Women's Archives Winter 2025 Book Club Pick
An Official Rewire 2025 Book List Selection
A Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices List

★ "Heiligman's latest YA biography, about Emma Goldman, solidifies her as one of the absolute best in the business . . . Heiligman treats Goldman with immense perception and compassion, providing helpful context around her subject's contradictions and delivering a lucid portrait of a complicated, multifaceted, and dynamic individual who dared to imagine a better world, full of joy and unconstrained by rules established by people aiming to maintain or increase their own power. As a work of biography, Loudmouth is a master class, but it's Goldman's story in particular that makes this such a success . . . Juicy, empowering, extraordinarily well researched, and deeply intelligent, this is essential reading, and not just for teens." --Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

"Activist Emma Goldman was a remarkable woman and, as this sharp, informed biography shows, a ferocious, engaged, observant, and compassionate child and teen as well . . . The book is fearless in exploring Goldman's considerable strengths as an orator and activist, while also rounding her out as a full woman who became the unofficial spokesperson for the free love movement, who was a loyal friend, and who carried the scars of a nightmare childhood all of her life . . . Heiligman also does exceptional work in exploring how any single speech, warm exchange, or relationship that Goldman had also changed the other people involved." --BCCB

"The complexities and passions that characterized Jewish, Lithuanian-born writer and anarchist Emma Goldman (1869-1940) drive this comprehensive, thoroughly researched biography by Heiligman . . . Drawing information from Goldman's own works, Heiligman builds a vivid portrait of a resilient figure who navigated prejudices against immigrants, Jews, women, and the working class at the dawn of the 20th century." --Publishers Weekly

"Well-researched and comprehensive . . . will feel relevant to contemporary teens. Vividly portrays the life of a champion who stood up--loudly--to injustice." --Kirkus Reviews

"Heiligman's newest work of nonfiction touches on a long list of hot-button contemporary issues: due process, free speech, gender equity, economic inequality, pacifism, prison reform, reproductive freedom, political violence, and sexual mores . . . True to form, Heiligman distills this remarkable, complex legacy for a new generation with a sure hand, using a conversational voice that draws readers into her meticulously researched narrative." --The Horn Book

"An engrossing biography . . . Heiligman's depth of research and absorbing, crisp writing makes for a page-turner about a fierce, complex, and influential dissident." --School Library Journal

"Heiligman doesn't attempt to whitewash Goldman's complicated and sex-filled life for young readers, and her story reads more like a novel than a biography." --Rewire News Group

"Deb-o-rah Heilig-man presents a detailed view of her subject's life in all its com-plex-i-ty. Whether read-ers are unfa-mil-iar with Goldman's life and work, or aware of her influ-ence on move-ments for social and polit-i-cal change, Loud-mouth will offer new facts and per-spec-tives on 'the most dan-ger-ous woman in America.'" --Jewish Book Council

"As a fan of Heiligman's work and her meticulous commitment to factual accuracy, Loudmouth certainly doesn't disappoint. It feels at once historical and urgently contemporary. It's a must read for YA readers and adults as well. Goldman is presented not as an idea or symbol, but as a wholly realized human. Commercialism and capitalism within the publishing industry aside, even Goldman herself probably would have approved of her depiction in Loudmouth." --JUDITH MAGAZINE