Women of Steel and Stone

January 1, 2014

Gr 6-8-These brief portraits provide basic information about the women's backgrounds and their successes. There are many shared features in their stories. Each individual had a passionate interest in building and designing that emerged at an early age, when she was willing to do things most ordinary girls didn't do. They all had strong family support to pursue their interests, but faced resistance in the workplace. Each woman had a firm belief that she could succeed on her own merits and a willingness to work hard to pursue her goals. While these shared features are briefly mentioned in the introduction, and readers can be challenged to find the many parallels among the stories, Lewis does not discuss the impact of race, poverty, and gender on the women's careers. Instead, there is an emphasis on "firsts"-for example, the first woman architect in America (Louise Bethune), the first woman to speak to the American Society of Civil Engineers (Emily Warren Roebling), and the first African American woman architect to be licensed in New York State (Norma Merrick Sklarek). Despite this focus on specifics, readers who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math will find a much-needed, clearly presented history of women in these fields.-Myra Zarnowski, City University of New York

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
Grades 7-10 The 22 women profiled here set their sights on becoming architects or engineersand were not deterred from following their dreams. For those in the early part of the twentieth century, three formidable hurdles had to be jumped: (1) finding universities with an architecture/engineering program, (2) securing seats in male-dominated programs, and (3) making a place for themselves within the field. Indeed, each woman profiled here serves as a champion for women's rights. The book is divided into three sections Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Engineers and each biographical profile includes a photo of the subject and concludes with a list of further resources about her. Some text boxes provide further information about the subject or requirements for the occupation, while others supplying information about an entirely different person can be distracting. This, however, doesn't take away from the book's overall appeal. Following the same basic layout as others in the Women in Action series, this inspiring collection will certainly find a place in a middle- or high-school reference or career section.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)