"Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, 'We've always done it this way.' I try to fight that." -- Grace Murray Hopper

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

I didn't know who most of these women were before reading She Did It!: 21 Women Who Changed the Way We Think. However, I thought their stories were fascinating, and their accomplishments were truly remarkable. I'm really glad I had an opportunity to read this book and learn about some of the women who have greatly impacted the world we live in today.

"The quest of the truth had been born in me -- the most tragic and incomplete, as well as the most essential, of man's quests." -- Ida Tarbell

Each person has a few pages dedicated to their lives and their achievements. I really liked how detailed the information was, and that it wasn't dense or done in way that made me feel like I was drowning in facts. The author tells a short story about each individual woman, their lives and contributions, and small details that referred to their personal as well as professional lives.

"Until the killing of a black mother's son becomes as important as the killing of a while mother's son, we cannot rest." -- Ella Baker

My husband and I took turns reading this one to our kids. The girls are still too young to understand most of it, but our son thought it was interesting. He had a lot of questions afterwards, and I would say this one is meant for an older audience, but I enjoyed sharing these stories with him. It would be a lengthy read on its own, which is why we would only read about two or three women at a time. I think that gave us time to process what we were reading, and not confuse people later on.

Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on November 16, 2018. ( )

Women are often the driving force behind positive changes we see in the world, however, their accomplishments are often overshadowed by their male counterparts or simply swept under the rug of history. She Did It! profiles 21 women who have inspired positive change in US history. Each profile includes a mini-biography of the woman's life from birth to death or present time. Their inspirations, failures, hardships and successes are all included. Their journeys were rarely easy. The writing is done so that middle grade readers can clearly understand, complete with definitions and vocabulary; although it is still informative for an adult reader. Many of women who are profiled are women that I have heard of, some were not. I was impressed with the variety of women throughout time, women from different backgrounds, ethnic groups and who led change in areas from human rights, civil rights, equality, the arts, media and the sciences.

I was very happy that the book included some of my personal heroines including Rachel Carson, Isadora Duncan, Grace Hopper and Temple Grandin. Many of these women are not well known outside of their own spheres of influence; however changes that were affected by their advancements are still in use today. I was glad to read about the difficult parts of their lives, their struggles and perseverance for what they wanted to accomplish. It is important to know that creating change is not usually easy, but still very possible. I was also happy to learn about women who I was unaware of including Gladys Tataquidgeon, a leader for Native American rights and culture, Ella Baker, who was integral in the civil rights movement alongside Martin Luther King and Alice Waters, whose work with food accessibility is still being accomplished today. As I read through these women's stories, I began to see that even as they lived at different times and were champions of different causes, that each victory they had connected to and helped fuel the next, fully revealing the meaning of sisterhood.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )