"Good Girls Don't Make History" by Elizabeth Kiehner and Kara Coyle is a graphic novel that illuminates the powerful narratives of female trailblazers from the 1840s to the present. This visually striking book juxtaposes modern-day scenes at a California polling station with pivotal moments in the fight for women's suffrage. By chronicling the lives of icons like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, and Susan B. Anthony, the novel offers a rich, immersive journey through U.S. history. The artwork, reminiscent of watercolor paintings, adds an emotional depth that makes the stories resonate profoundly with readers.

The novel not only highlights the well-known battles for women’s rights but also delves into the lesser-known struggles of Black and Indigenous women, who faced additional layers of discrimination. Through its dual timeline structure, the book effectively connects past and present, underscoring the ongoing nature of the fight for equality. While it predominantly centers on White Feminism, it commendably does not shy away from addressing the exclusions and racism within the suffrage movement. "Good Girls Don't Make History" serves as an inspiring educational tool that is accessible and engaging for readers of all ages, making it a must-read for those interested in the history of women’s rights and social justice.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Unfortunately archived before I realised I had issues with my copy, but I’ll be buying this as I do want to read it and it’s an important story, definitely looking forward to reading it

‘Good Girls Don’t Make History’ is a historical fiction graphic novel about the suffragette movement. This book highlights the racism of many of the white suffragettes and highlights influential black women that fought for the right to vote.

I am not very educated on the suffragette movement, however I did recently learn about the racism that occured during that time. I’m happy that this book exists so children and young people can learn about the inequalities that happened inside of the movement and can learn about influential black and native americans within this movement. I will be educating myself further on this but this was a great start!

Representation - Black; Native American; POC

TWs/CWs - Abuse; Blood; Civil War; Death; Death of a Loved One; Fire; Force-feeding; Gun Violence; Illness; Imprisonment; Misogyny; Police Brutality; Racism; Riots; Sexism; Slavery; Violence; War

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book highlights different moments in the suffrage movement in a graphic novel form. This is a text-heavy graphic novel. The book jumps between time periods and assumes a certain level of knowledge about the information. Because of the structure, this would work better as an additional text and not the only text you read about the topic.

this book is like taking a refreshing shower of feminism as it covers the history of women suffrage struggle in USA. it goes back and forth from modern people getting ready to vote and what it was like for women to get the right to vote, not just for the white women but also for black and indigenious women.

The art in the comic book is absolutely stunning and beautiful. The portraits after each section was always so cool to look at and I love that the quotes always accompanied them.

While I love that this book touched on intersectionality in the sections set in the modern day there seemed to hardly be any mention of it in the historical sense. I would've loved more of a deep dive into the Black women's struggle to gain access to voting. Not only that but there is only a slight touch on how long it took Native Americans to gain the right to vote. There are no historical figures mentioned and the conversation is only set in the modern day.

I am glad this graphic novel exists to teach younger people what women had to go through to gain the right to vote. People sometimes disregard comic books/graphic novels as a legitimate form of reading but I think it is a good way to entice younger readers to be more interested in history. History was one of the subjects I struggled with getting into when I was in middle/high school and I think this is one of the perfect ways to get young readers interested in the subject.

I learned a lot from this book and I was glad to have read it. I would definitely recommend this to others and especially younger people to get them more interested in history from a different perspective.

I received a free eARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well-behaved women seldom make history, or so the saying goes: and indeed, "Good Girls Don't Make History" takes us through the work of some of the women who refused to settle for "good," because they had something more meaningful in mind—full citizens who had the right to vote.

The illustrations are wonderful here, something like (I say without any kind of art background) watercolor with sharply defined shapes. I particularly liked the full-page illustrations of some of the women highlighted in the book (and wished that every major player had been given a full-page illustration!), as well as the way the present-day sections, scattered throughout, made subtle use of the diversity of the locales in which those sections take place. A girl in Marin County, California, waiting in a voting line with her mother will be surrounded by a different array of people than a girl waiting in Gwinnett County, Georgia—and that's reflected in the illustrations.

I had so many US history classes growing up, and of course some of these names and images are familiar to me, but many of them are also not—I had no idea, for example, that Native Americans didn't get the right to citizenship (and thus to vote) until 1924 (and that many states still found ways to keep them from voting), or just how long it took for many Black women to be able to vote. The latter in particular is not a surprise, but I'm left with the distinct impression that my history lessons glossed over some major facts. To that end, while I'm thrilled that the book makes a point to highlight the roles of Black women in particular during the fight for women's suffrage (and also makes a point to call out white suffragists who wanted suffrage only for white women), I wish it had taken an extra ten or twenty pages to cover Black women's suffrage after the 19th amendment.

Altogether, though, this is extremely timely and will make a valuable addition to school libraries. I hope this team of writers/illustrators/etc. continue with this sort of work on further topics.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.

I really liked this graphic novel. I did not know a lot of the people who were involved in the Suffragette Movement. We all hear of Susan B. Anthony but it started way before her. This is written in a way for everyone to understand and dates are in order and d run smoothly into the next part. The illustrations are good and very expressive. This could be used to help with a report on this topic. I am very happy to know how hard these women worked so that I could vote. I highly recommend this for children and adults alike. I learned a lot from it.

Well done graphic novel showing the history of the suffrage movement in the United States. Beginning with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1840 to the march on Washington in 1913 and continuing forward till women are given the right to vote. I like that the art looks like the women. I can recognize Alice Paul, Inez Milholland and others. I like the modern moments that are included making the history a teaching moment for younger generations. I’ve read about many of these same women in The Women’s March by Jennifer Chiaverini (Jan 2021). But this covers the history well including the fact that it was easier to get black men voting rights before women. And although black women are included in the movements they weren’t universally accepted. I can easily see this being welcome on the shelves in libraries in middle and high school. And it was is an educational to me as an adult reader as well. This was published in Aug 2021. I'm not sure why it is still available on NG but thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions for the temporary ARC.

This is a graphic novel that shows the important women in history that dared step out of line in order to help make the world better for later generations of women.

I always love learning about women in history and so this book was perfect. I also loved how it was a graphic novel which made it easier for me to read. I loved the setup of this book and how it went back forth between the past with the beginning of women fighting to gain the vote and the present with stories of women and girls voting.
This book didn't just include the voices and stories of white suffragettes but also told the stories of black suffragettes.

This is a book I would want on my kid's bookshelf to have people look up to and history to learn. I like how they jumped between past and present impacts.

I'm so sorry - I only had this title as an acsm file, and it expired before I got around to reading it. My apologies!

I have given a 5-star rating by way of apology, and because I can't Give Feedback without giving a star rating.

Apologies again, and best of luck with your publications!

Good Girls Don't Make History is a historical graphic novel that dives into the development of female rights and the first female vote in America. The story flips between the modern world where women are going to take their vote, and the famous females who worked hard to get us here when there wasn't a woman who had that choice. It also covers this struggle not only for white women, but also for black and native american who fought with greater struggle.

The narrative of this book had good things in mind and showed us why we should be so grateful for the progress women’s rights movements have made. I just struggled following the story. The flip in timeline wasn't the issue, that was actually something I really enjoyed. Getting to see how hard those historical women worked, and seeing girls now learn how important they are to history was really interesting. The issue was the lack of information for any of the historical women in question. As a non-american, I didn't completely understand who they were or what they came from.

As a graphic novel, the illustrations are gorgeous. They have this really pretty watercolour look that not only looks beautiful, but also helps convey the message the book is trying to show.

The fight for women’s rights still goes on. Especially today, in the light of what is happening in Afghanistan, we realise that the struggle is never over. Some battles have been won; there are many more yet to be fought.

This is a graphic novel with punch!

Split between the original period of women’s suffer age and today, it charts the fight for equality that still continues in the 21st century.

I started this book thinking I knew a lot about the fight for equal voting rights but boy was I wrong!! This book told stories of familiar figures and names I didn’t recognise, all working together. I’ve since been inspired to continue reading widely about the subject.

The beautifully detailed illustrations bring the stories to life and if I have any criticisms at all, it is a purely minor one: sometimes the text was on the small side to read on a screen reader. But overall I loved this book and intend to use sections of it with my students to start discussions in class.

As a proud feminist, this book was like a balm to my torn up soul. What a great way to tell women's stories in such a stunning and engaging way. I cannot suggest this graphic novel enough to anyone who will listen.

Really insightful graphic novel that depicts the history of women. It would be ideal for younger, female readers to inform them of the suffragette movement. The dual timeline could be slightly confusing at the beginning but as the novel goes on you get used to it.

This was a very cute book! I think that it works really well for the target audience and can see myself using this as a resource in the future.

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Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to acquire an advanced copy of the available books. I also apologize for being behind in my reading process, however, I am back in high school.

This book was amazing when i read it, and it's real literature, in spite of it's not all letters, is a graphic novel. Nevertheless it's indescriptible. i learned some advices and real situation about women's throughout history.

This is a story of women telling the real situation around her life in the United States while XIX' and XX centuries.

5/5

This book was amazing and shows that women are strong and amazing leaders. I really enjoyed reading this book.