The YA Book Log

Women’s HERstory Month in the YA Room

This month is Women’s HERstory Month!  The Young Adult room’s theme is scholar and historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s famous quote “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”  When she originally wrote this line in an article in 1976, she meant it literally: it was hard for historians to find evidence of how everyday women lived their lives because, unless they did something scandalous, no one made any significant notice of them (Ulrich 2007).  The quote quickly caught on, however, as a rallying cry for women and girls to throw aside the societal expectations of “well-behaved women” – namely that they be quiet, dainty, and obedient – opting instead to embrace their passions, emotions, and skills to go make history and a name for themselves.

In the YA room, we have on display several books that highlight women like this.  We have a handful of some of our favorite fictional stories of badass girls overthrowing toxic societies, like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (of COURSE), Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia.  Most of our selections, though, are non-fiction books in a variety of styles: biographies, a fabulous verse novel, some graphic novels, and colorful illustrated anthologies!  They showcase the amazing accomplishments of women from all over the world and time who refused to let anyone make them “behave,” like Harriet Tubman, Malala Yousafzai, Mary Shelley, Iva “Tokyo Rose” Toguri, Temple Grandin, Beyoncé, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Hedy Lamarr, Nellie Blyn, Nzinga to name just a few.