These titles are guaranteed to be fun, interesting, and worthwhile reading. From feisty girls to powerful women throughout history, these books are sure to keep you turning pages...Pick them up soon at your local library or bookstore!!
Allegra Mauld Goldman By: Edith Konecky
Allegra is a feisty Jewish girl struggling to create an identity within her wealthy materialistic family. Allegra is a memorable character which makes this hilarious book hard to put down.
Harriet's Daughter By: Marlene Nourbese Philip
Margaret, an African-Canadian teen, wants to create a new, exciting identity for herself, and makes up the "underground railroad" game in which she plays Harriet Tubman helping slaves to escape. Margaret also wants to help her friend Zulma escape her abusive stepfather and return to her grandmother in Tobago. With the help of her mother, Zulma's mother and a wise neighbor, the plan is successful.
Willow Whip By: Irene Bennett Brown
It is 1918, and Willow wants very much for her family to own their own Kansas farm instead of tenant farmers moving yearly. She works hard and thinks up ways to earn more money, but gets so caught up in her plans that she cannot even sympathize when her brothers fall ill. Willow eventually realizes she must balance hard work with fun and compassion.
Life in the Fat Lane By: Cherie Bennett
Lara Ardeche, Homecoming Queen and beauty pageant winner, is perfect! She's smart, beautiful, and talented. She has great parents and a cool boyfriend. And she's a nice person! Lara contracts a rare condition which causes her to gain over 100 pounds and she finds that the world is a different place for a fat girl.
So You Want to Be a Wizard By: Diane Duane
Nita is a 13-year-old tormented by a gang of bullies because she won't fight back. She finds a library book on wizardry which guides her into another dimension. If you like the Harry Potter books, give this one a try!
Bad Girls By: Cynthia Voigt
Mikey and Margolo meet on the first day of school in a new classroom and find that they have a lot in common. Both are smart, headstrong and determined to shake things up. In the words of the author, "these are girls with an attitude, and girls up to no good."
A Long Way from Chicago By: Richard Peck
Joey and his sister Mary Alice make yearly visits to their eccentric gramdmother during the Great Depression of the 1930's in rural Chicago. They soon become involved in Grandmother's "one-woman crime wave" which leads them all into some very interesting and exciting adventures.
A Different Beat By: Candy Dawson Boyd
Sixth-grader Jessie Williams attends Oakland Performing Arts middle school. But if she cannot keep her grades up, her dad will send her back to regular middle school. See what Jessie does to prove to her father, and to herself, that she can succeed academically and personally.
Hispanic Female and Young By: Phyllis Tashlik
This project started when the author began a class about Latina literature for eighth grade Latina girls and she soon realized that her students had a book to write of their own. The book includes interviews with Hispanic women whom the class admired.
Girls Hold Up This World By: Jada Pinkett Smith
Artistic photographs enhance the positive message of Jada Pinkett Smith's inspiring poem. A renowned actress and loving mother, Smith brings warmth and heart to this celebration of young women.
I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off A Little Self-Esteem By: Jamie Lee Curis
An emotionally reassuring picture book where Curtis looks to the source of what makes children (of all ages) feel uncomfortable in their own skin. The illustrator pictures the perky rhymes being delivered by a pair of young protagonists confident enough to shake off embarrassment and to feel proud (though not overly so!) of personal achievements.
Girls Know Best - Advice for Girls from Girls on Just About Everything Compiled By: Michelle Roehm
This book is a step towards creating a new world - your world. This book celebrates your unique voices and wisdom. Thirty-eight girls from all over the coutnry, ages 7-15 were selected for their "Girl Writer Contest" for their great ideas. These amazing girls have written chapters giving advice on things like parents, school, boys and life's most embarrassing moments. Everything you need to know... from the people who really know the answers - girls just like you!
The Girl Pages, A Handbook of the Best Resources for Strong, Confident, Creative Girls By: Charlotte Milholland
The author presents a thorough, easy-to-use tool filled with options to enrich girls' lives: camps, programs, resources, associations, you name it. She also includes annotated lists of books, websites, movies and periodicals. Her goal is to help girls be creative and confident and she succeeds well.
Cool Women, The Thinking Girls's Guide to the Hippest Women in History By: Dawn Chipman, Mari Florence and Naomi Wax
A revised version was just released with a new foreward by The View's Lisa Ling. This is the ultimate book of role models for girls and just as smart and sassy as the women who are its subject. Breezy writing and high design make it fun and accessible - a girl reading Cool Women will come away thinking that Madame Curie was brilliant, sure, but also that she rocked!
Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns: A Reporter's Story By: Wilborn Hampton
You've heard about it from your parents and grandparents, now find out what it was like to be there.
The Kid's Guide to Service Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference By: Barbara A. Lewis
Check out this easy-to-use book that offers a list of 10 quick steps to follow to start a service project. A section is included that provides practical advice on how to make a flyer, how to write a public service announcement, how to lobby, and more!
Rosie the Riveter By: Penny Colman
The author describes the experiences of women joining the factory workforce from 1939 to 1945 in World War II America. This is a great book that brings a period of history to life and shows what women were able to accomplish.
Super Champ: Babe Didrikson Zaharias By: David Collins
Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the greatest female athlete of her generation. Born to immigrant Norwegian parents, she grew up in Texas and played many sports from an early age. Her fame rose as she excelled in basketball, baseball, volleyball, golf, tennis, and track and field.
Any Girl Can Rule the World By: Susan Brooks
This helpful book includes advice on how to publish your own magazine, how to start and run a small business and how to work in a nontraditional job. Also included is a resource guide for many different organizations.
Cool Careers for Girls By: Linda Thornburg
Read about real life women in engineering, computers, sports, construction, air, and space, among many other careers. See how these women achieved their dreams.
Is There a Woman in the House -- or Senate? By: Bryna Fireside
Absorbing profiles of 10 women members of Congress, including the first African-American woman, Shirley Chisolm; as well as Bella Abzug, Patricia Schroeder, and others. Read about their childhoods and career set-backs as well as successes. A must-read for future leaders!
Girls and Young Women Entrepreneurs By: Karnes, Bean, and Verdick
Girls and young women who have started a business (like the sisters who perform magic shows and girls who make and sell cheesecake) tell their stories in this fun to read book. Information on starting your own business is included.