She Persisted Around the World by C. Clinton

Abstract

Clinton, Chelsea. She Persisted Around the World. Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Philomel Books, 2018.

Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger give us a walk through historic and present day women showing us each woman’s great submission to the world we live in. Whether it be through overcoming their own disability, overcoming others’ views on placement of women, or overcoming another’s thoughts on what women are allowed to do, the main focus is on the fact that they persisted. Using these circumstances that could have gobbled them up, they chose to take the road less travelled and fight for what they believed in—these are stories of women who did not give up but persisted through whatever was trying to hold them back. This book gives us short stories about strong women from the past, like Marie Curie, all the way to amazing women that we are lucky enough to have with us today, like Malala Yousafzai and J.K. Rowling. This shows us that we can look to the past for heroes, but sometimes there are heroes who can be found in our own generation. Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger did a beautiful job displaying beautiful, imagination igniting pictures and thought-inducing stories that describe the women, what they persisted through, and what they accomplished. Some women even received the Nobel Peace Prize for their contributions.

The beautiful drawings showcase each woman’s struggle to persist through her personal issue. Some are simple drawings and others are intricate interpretations that bring their story to life. The illustrations show people from different areas of the world and it even includes a Canadian connection. As Canadians, we can see our faces in this book as a mirror and can see it does not matter what colour our skin is, what area of the world we come from, or what our family circumstances are, we just need to be true to our beliefs and true to our voice in our world. This book empowers young girls to become powerful women.   

As the author, Chelsea Clinton, says eloquently at the end of the book for our girls to “speak up, rise up, dream big. These women did that and more. They persisted and so should you.”   

Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars
Reviewer: Leone Socha

Leone Socha is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who has loved reading her whole life. When she is not busy studying she is running after her husband and three children!