Review: Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists

 By Mikki Kendall and A. D'Amico

The ongoing struggle for women's rights has spanned human history, touched nearly every culture on Earth, and encompassed a wide range of issues, such as the right to vote, work, get an education, own property, exercise bodily autonomy, and beyond. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is a fun and fascinating graphic novel-style primer that covers the key figures and events that have advanced women's rights from antiquity to the modern era. In addition, this compelling book illuminates the stories of notable women throughout history--from queens and freedom fighters to warriors and spies--and the progressive movements led by women that have shaped history, including abolition, suffrage, labor, civil rights, LGBTQ liberation, reproductive rights, and more. Examining where we've been, where we are, and where we're going, Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is an indispensable resource for people of all genders interested in the fight for a more liberated future.

Goodreads 

My Thoughts: A graphic history of women's rights? Sign me up! I am not a huge fan of nonfiction books. I easily get distracted when reading a nonfiction book (memoirs are an exception) so having valuable information presented to me in a graphic novel format was a win. Plus, it was nice to see the beautiful artwork that went along with the book.

This graphic book focused on the women's fight for their rights since 4500 BCE. It was filled with many different women throughout history from around the world. Each woman in the book was honored with a brief highlight, either a whole page or a separate bubble within the page. Mikki Kendall attempted to include women of different backgrounds, such as from the LGBT community and Native American. The modern times heavily focused of women in the United States, especially of African American women. However, it barely mentioned women from the Latinx and Asian communities. I completely understand how it would be difficult to include ALL women in one book; in fact, the graphic novel was filled with so much information that it was a little hard to remember all the women that it mentioned. Perhaps if it were broken down into a series it would have worked better? 

Now let me talk about the artwork. It was absolutely gorgeous! A D'Amico is completely talented! The pages were filled with vibrant colors and the transition between the information was well sculpted. The drawings of the women were done well; they held the true likeness of the actual women. Nothing was done sloppily. Every page was filled with well thought out details that did not overwhelm the senses. I found it quite enjoyable starting at the illustrations. 

As a whole, this was a great way to present important history to people. The graphic novel makes it accessible to people who do not enjoy reading long texts of information (like me) and it's perfect for young adults to have in their libraries. I rate this: