Thank you NetGally and Rebel Girls for this digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Description
From the world of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes the historical novel based on the life of Junko Tabei, the first female climber to summit Mount Everest.

Junko is bad at athletics. Really bad. Other students laugh because they think she is small and weak. Then her teacher takes the class on a trip to a mountain. It’s bigger than any Junko’s ever seen, but she is determined to make it to the top. Ganbatte, her teacher tells her. Do your best.

After that first trip, Junko becomes a mountaineer in body and spirit. She climbs snowy mountains, rocky mountains, and even faraway mountains outside of her home country of Japan. She joins clubs and befriends fellow climbers who love the mountains as much as she does. Then, Junko does something that’s never been done before… she becomes the first woman to climb the tallest mountain in the world.

Well written story with good morals! I enjoyed watching Junko growing up and learning how to navigate in life centering mountain climbing as her goal. She fashioned life-long friends.

A fascinating biography of a famous female mountain climber.

The Rebel Girls know how to match illustrations and story, and though this is far longer than their normal story it still works well here. I'd never heard of Junko before and I was really interested in it - although the way that both she and her husband kept insisting they weren't typical Japanese people kept tripping me up! I loved the little touches of Japanese culture woven into the story as well, but I was surprised there was no glossary - the children reading this will probably not know what a lot of it is.

Overall a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing an advanced read of this novel.

Junko Tabei is an inspiration for girls of any age, but especially those in middle-grade who are searching for their role in life. Learn from teachers and be open to what they have to share with you. Follow your dreams, be passionate about what and who you love and don't let others make decisions for you. "Ganbatte. Do your best"

I thouroughly enjoy this book, is really well written for the age group this book is targeted. Not horrible gory details about people passing away yet they are mention as it's a part of life. I'm really glad I picked this one up Hightly recommend to anybody who likes to read about successful women. Brilliant if you and your family are planning a trip to Japan so maybe some of the things mention here might make more sense.

Wow! I can't wait to read more of this series on women and girls who kept going despite obstacles to become exactly who they were meant to be. In this one Junko Tabei takes up mountaineering as a girl and eventually becomes the first woman to ascend Mt. Everest. The focus of the book is on her perseverance, a great trait for anyone. She often remembers her teacher's words to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Great for upper elementary!

What a lovely read this was. Perfect for young women wanting nonfiction stories about great women of the past. Junko Tabei was one of the first women to climb Mount Everest. There are just enough pictures sprinkled throughout the text to give the reader a glimpse of the story. Great empowering themes in the book: Ganbatte, Do Your Best! Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart. Ages 6-10.
#RebelGirlSeries #NetGalley

Delighted to see Rebel Girls is making chapter books. This one is as gorgeous as their large books. It fills the need for more diverse protagonists in early chapter books. It is a story we have not hear before, and beautifully told and illustrated. Kudos!

This story of the life of Junko Tabei is presented in a format that children will find easy to read and relatable to their own life in some ways. Beginning when Junko is in elementary and covering her life until her death makes for a broad story that uses more detail at crucial intervals without becoming overwhelming. Hopefully, children reading this story of Junko's transition from a non-athletic child to a world-class mountain climber will be able to draw inspiration for their own challenges. "Ganbatte!"

What a beautiful book! The colours and the illustrations alone are lovely but Junko Tabei's story, written at a level to engage and inspire many young girls, is brilliant. I loved the writing style - it was easy to read and very down to earth. I also loved the activities at the end, which will be brilliant for young readers who feel inspired.

An amazing woman with an amazing story that deserves to be shared!

The story of the amazing Junko Tabei's life, engagingly told and with cute illustrations. A must read for tweens, especially tween girls.

This is another great addition to the incredible Rebel Girls series this time focusing on a mountaineer who defied all the odds! I hadn't heard of Junko before reading this book and hearing about her story was so different and inspirational, I just know it'll introduce so many more young kids to the wonders of the outdoors.

I think I have a new hero! Junko Tabei's story is really inspiring. It even sounds kind of like a movie story, and it's hard to believe this was a real, living person. The book is wonderfully illustrated and well written, I absolutely loved it. Plus, you can find all sorts of info about mountain climbing at the end (how to tie knots, how to balance yourself or how to even manage your fears!)
This is a wonderful book for kids, especially for girls who may be doubting their abilities or their strength. Very inspiring.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

We read from the Good Night Rebel Girls book every night (I have 4 daughters) and it provides just a nice snippet into that woman's accomplishments and life. I'm so happy they are doing more deep dive books into these amazing women! We loved it!

I’d never heard of Junko Tabei before reading this biography, and I have to color myself impressed! Not only is her life story incredible, but the illustrations and writing style chosen to convey her story were so well-done, fluid, and friendly. I mean, get a load of that cover–it tells us so much already! She’s successful, she’s Japanese, she uses all sorts of tools in order to get herself to the summits–I’m certain there’s more that can be derived from it, but that’s from just the top of my head.

Tabei’s story is likely to be inspirational for others–after all, she grew up during a time where girls and women weren’t treated with the utmost respect, and for Tabei to break away from the marriage-and-kids script and pursue mountaineering? Well, it took a lot of guts. But she made it happen and achieved feats beyond her wildest dreams.

Overall, this was a great read depicting a lesser-known but totally important woman worthy of acknowledgement. Definitely worth the read, and definitely serves as inspiration to read more about this incredible woman!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Rebel Girls is such an inspiring series that I am so glad is being published these days. The books and podcast have covered so many strong and influential women from around the world, many that those of us in the States probably never learned about in school. I like that the authors have taken the same storytelling format from the Goodnight Stories series and brought it to these more in-depth biographies, it makes the story more approachable in my opinion. This less cut and dry method is also helped with the illustrations that are peppered throughout so this would be a great hi-lo series for young readers.

I know I never learned about Junko Tabei in school so it was interesting to read about her now as an adult. I found myself immediately drawn to her story and relating to her as well, I couldn't help but relate when she has her first mountaineering experience while in grade school.

This is definitely a series I will be purchasing for my library and any young girls in life!

Junko Tabei Masters the Mountains
By Rebel Girls

"She's tiny and weak. Plus, she's a girl."

The Rebel Girls are known for their popular bedtime stories, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, and their newest collection of books piggybacks expands upon that concept. Junko Tabei Masters the Mountains tells the tale of Junko Tabei, a Japanese woman who is determined to prove others wrong. Junko signs up to climb a mountain for a school field trip, only to be doubted by both her peers and family members. Her gender seems to play a part in this doubt, as girls are seen as weak and unsuccessful. However, with the support of her teacher, even when climbing the mountain gets hard, she doesn't give up and continues to climb until she reaches the mountain's peak. She uses this mentality later on in her life; when Junko gets a poor grade in school, she is filled with determination to keep studying and does better on the next test. Junko decides to go to college where she begins hiking again to destress from school. However, the stigma that women were not strong enough to hike a mountain persisted, and she finds it difficult to join a group to climb mountains as most clubs did not accept women. Even when she does join a group, many of the men doubt her ability, but she proves them wrong and climbs one of the highest mountains in Japan alone with another woman climber. Besides being a chapter book about a woman's neverending determination, Junko Tabei Masters the Mountains features Japanese culture, vocabulary, food, and would be a great read for elementary students who are learning about Japan. The book can also be used as a read-aloud as there are many beautiful illustrations, and readers both young and old will enjoy the inspiring story of Junko Tabei.

BIBLIO: 2020, Rebel Girls, Children's Fiction/Middle Grades, $12.99

ISBN: 9781733329200

EDITION: Hardcover

Reviewer: Stephanie Osczepinski

4.5 stars. Good, simple, inspires how a woman who is trapped by the classic stereotype where a woman after graduating from school must immediately get married and become a housewife. Stories like this are needed by young people today and are good to be introduced for children of 4th grade to help them build their dreams from an early age. Same age like Junko’s when she deals with some problems doing mountain climbing and make her realized that she can’t give up just like that.

The quote that I like from this book: "no mountain is too high if you put one foot in front of the other"...pretty inspiring to make us work hard to achieved our dreams/goals.