3 Stars

I was very much enjoying reading the book, however there are some issues with the e-book format so that some of the text would be cut off and usually appear on the next page confusing the story lines. I did get through 20% of the book before the text issues became extremely annoying. But I do think what I read had the makings of a great historical book for young students and fun illustrations.

3.5/5

While I wouldn't call "She the People" a graphic history, as there are very few images, this is a wonderful and concise book that explains the role of women in the history of the United States, from its founding to the present day. I think this would be a great book for an older high school student or college student to learn about some of the important figures in US history and feminism.

What a fantastic overview of how women have fought for our place in society. This book read as a timeline of women's achievements and struggles through our short history. It really puts into perspective how it was not that long ago that that we were granted the right to vote. It is a shame to see that we still do not have complete control over ourselves depending on what state you live in. It was also disheartening to read about other women who want us to remain dependent upon our male companions as was seen with the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment. I think this is an important book to get into the hands of both female and male young people. It is another great jump off point to learn more about our history. I took a star off because the end seemed rushed but I enjoyed the suggested readings list.

I will note that on page 180 there was a mistake on the roman numeral for King Henry the VIII. It was written as King Henry the XIII.

Thank you to Netgalley and Perseus Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

actual rating: 3.5

I just want to point out that calling this a 'graphic history' and 'highly illustrated' is more than a bit misleading. It's just a prose book with some black and white line drawings thrown in every so often. I guess the illustrations are of decent quality for something like a webcomic, but I was expecting a lot more out of it based on the description. This doesn't necessarily affect my review because the book was still good, it was just good in a different way than it was marketed. Which actually kind of brings me to my next point ...

Again, I am not complaining about this because I feel like it was very well done, but this book was almost as much about race equality as it was about women's equality. Obviously the two are very connected in our nations' history, but I was a bit surprised that the book spent so much time on slavery and the civil rights movement - in regards to black men AND women. There were a lot of very interesting facts included because of this, but I feel like something along the lines of 'a comprehensive look at the history of the relation between race and gender equality in the united states' might have been a better title just because so much time is spent talking about it.

The last few chapters I feel got stuck in a bit of a rut as well in regards to Hilary Clinton. Obviously Hilary has been a big player in politics and women's progress in that arena in the last 30+ years, but to basically spend the majority of three chapters talking about one woman is maybe not the best use of space in a book that is supposed to cover such a broad topic. What happened in 2016 was absolutely devastating but there have been so many amazing female politicians elected to both the House and the Senate in the 2016 and 2018 elections and I think it would have been great to mention some of them and how we are still trying to move forward despite setbacks.

Overall it was a fairly comprehensive and informative read. It's pretty depressing how much further we still have to go, but hearing about the achievements of all the great women who came before us is very inspiring. I would recommend this book, but just keep in mind that what you get is not necessarily what it is marketed as.

Did you know that in the United States, we still haven't ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) 35 years since it was sent out to states to ratify? Did you know that women technically still aren't considered to be full and equal citizens in America? We are one state short from ratification, friends. Today we can have a credit card in our own name, work outside the home, and vote, but these seemingly basic rights weren't always something women could count on. We've come a long way, but there's still a long way to go. 

She the People, written by Jen Deaderick, is an illustrated look at the history of Women's rights from the start of the United States of America to present day. It is sassy, smart, and covers a heck of a lot of ground for one book. Though some mentions of famous feminine figures are short, all are powerful reminders of those women who have come before to fight for the rights of women. She the People does an incredible job of balancing out the contributions, not just including white women, but women of color as well.  The book is broken down into time periods, each with their select group of women and told in a mostly linear time frame. What's shocking and somewhat horrifying is how similar some of the historical eras are to our current day.  The ERA is a major part of this book, as are the frustrations of women who have sacrificed everything to move forward the rights of women in the United States. 

Jen Deaderick does a killer job of addressing the history of women in the United States and makes a solid case for the ERA. I hope that in my lifetime, we get this bill officially ratified. The book definitely has a feminist liberal slant, but I'm here for it. 

For those of you wondering what the ERA says, and why it is seemingly so controversial that only 37 out of 38 states have ratified it, here is the current text:
 “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.”

You can get your copy of She the People March 5, 2019 from Perseus Press.

This was a super good overview of the challenges that American women- both Black and White- have faced since the Declaration of Independence. There wasn't much in here that I hadn't learned or read about before but it was unusual to have it all put together in such an engaging way and to have it tied into what's happening in our world right now.

One minor quip- I think the title "Graphic History" is a bit misleading. I was expecting a word-heavy graphic novel, but this was more a short history with hand-drawn art every couple of pages. The art was great and definitely added to it, but I just wanted to note that in my review in case you're expecting a quick graphic novel.

This was a good basic overview of the history of feminism in America - not an in-depth exploration, to be sure, but a nice jumping off point for people who are new to this, and a good place to find out the names of people and movements to research more. However, this book is NOT a "graphic history" - it's a book of text with occasional line-drawing illustrations sprinkled in. I went into this expecting a graphic novel (a la John Lewis' "March" or Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis") and was a little disappointed.

I liked the variety of women who were represented in this book, both in the time periods and the different backgrounds. I felt, however, that the book didn't really go into great detail of the individual woman. It would have been more interesting, I think, to focus on a few women from each century from around the country and really talk about their live struggles. While reading the ebook, it was also very jumbled. This might have been done to make sure that no good copies would get out if someone violated the rules, but it made this book very difficult to read and present a review of.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own.