Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves & Other Female Villains

by Jane Yolen, Heidi E.Y. Stemple Narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt, Jane Yolen, Heidi E.Y. Stemple, Monte Belmonte

Overview

From Jezebel to Catherine the Great, from Cleopatra to Mae West, from Mata Hari to Bonnie Parker, strong women have been a problem for historians, storytellers, and readers. Strong females smack of the unfeminine. They have been called wicked, wanton, and willful.

Sometimes that is a just designation, but just as often it is not. "Well-behaved women seldom make history," is the frequently quoted statement by historian and feminist Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. But what makes these misbehaving women "bad"? Are we idolizing the wicked or salvaging the strong?

In Bad Girls, readers meet twenty-six of history's most notorious women, each with a rotten reputation. But authors Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple remind us that there are two sides to every story. Was Delilah a harlot or hero? Was Catherine the Great a great ruler, or just plain ruthless? At the end of each chapter, Yolen and Stemple appear as themselves in comic panels as they debate each girl's badness-Heidi as the prosecution, Jane for context.

This unique and sassy examination of famed, female historical figures will engage readers with its unusual presentation of the subject matter. Heidi and Jane's strong arguments for the innocence and guilt of each bad girl promotes the practice of critical thinking as well as the idea that history is subjective.

A Live Oak Media audio production.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal - Audio

01/01/2015
Gr 4–8—Yolen and her daughter and cowriter, Stemple, gathered biographies of 26 infamous females in this romp with history's boldest women. From Delilah to Virginia Hill, listeners will meet brassy broads who operated outside the law, then hear the authors discuss whether the ladies were actually bad or merely misunderstood. Barbara Rosenblat's inviting narration is followed by Yolen and Stemple debating the merits of each historical crime. Their repartee enlivens these sassy tales of deception, murder, vanity, and self-preservation. Mother and daughter agree about shoes, but disagree about Cleopatra, Bloody Mary, Calamity Jane, and Mata Hari, along with other less well-known women, verbally jousting in a tolerant and humorous spirit. The two make it clear that history and community norms influence whether behaviors are acceptable or not. This collection will add just the right spice to history lessons for tweens and young teens.—Robin Levin, Ft. Washakie School/Community Library, W.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178875261
Publisher:	Live Oak Media
Publication date:	12/15/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

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