Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World

by Pénélope Bagieu, Pénélope Bagieu (Illustrator)

Overview

2019 Eisner Award Winner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Throughout history and across the globe, one characteristic connects the daring women of Brazen: their indomitable spirit.

With her characteristic wit and dazzling drawings, celebrated graphic novelist Pénélope Bagieu profiles the lives of these feisty female role models, some world famous, some little known. From Nellie Bly to Mae Jemison or Josephine Baker to Naziq al-Abid, the stories in this comic biography are sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies.

This title has Common Core connections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626728691
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	176,940
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Pénélope Bagieu was born in Paris in 1982 to Corsican and Basque parents. She is a bestselling graphic novel author, and her editorial illustrations have appeared all over the French media. In America, her graphic novels include Exquisite Corpse, California Dreamin’, The Witches (an adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic), and Brazen (a 2019 Eisner Award winner). She blogs, plays drums in a rock band, and watches lots of nature shows.

Editorial Reviews

…Bagieu's drawings are wonderful. Though sometimes spare, with minimal effort spent on backgrounds, her line manages to flow and skate through 29 stories of remarkable women. These drawings can act. They are alive with gestural attitude. They move, dance, struggle, fight back, fall in love, resist and wonder at the world. Some ham it up. Some suffer terrible abuse. To her credit, Bagieu doesn't back away from drawing the marks of violence on their faces and their bodies, which may come as a surprise to those who are expecting a rah-rah young adult girl-power sort of read…Bagieu's pen transforms these true stories into something that has the tone of a personalized fairy tale. And in the end, this turns out to be just perfect.

The New York Times Book Review - Lynda Barry

★ 01/15/2018
Story collections about famous women often include figures like Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale. Bagieu (California Dreamin’) goes further afield, creating short graphic biographies about inspiring women from many unexpected times and places, such as Las Mariposas, sisters from the Dominican Republic who worked to overthrow dictator Rafael Trujillo; Katia Krafft, who fought to be recognized as a volcanologist; and Leyah Gbowee, an organizer whose part in ending the civil war in Liberia won her the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. (“How about a drink?” Liberian negotiators say to Gbowee. “I don’t drink with murderers,” she snaps.) Bagieu’s writing is sly and understated, and her panels combine impish comedy with unexpected moments of sensuousness. The women in these biographies pursue political freedom, love, artistic fulfillment, and—sometimes—the joy of their own bodies: Peggy Guggenheim mourns the death of her lover John Holms “on the shoulders of (lots of) new lovers.” Any one of these stories would make a rousing picture book biography; 29 of them in one volume produces a work whose energy and wit will spur readers to get going and change the world. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Bagieu’s writing is sly and understated, and her panels combine impish comedy with unexpected moments of sensuousness." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Bagieu delivers a pièce de résistance that succinctly summarizes the obstacles and victories of these daring women. Insightful and clever, at times infuriating and disheartening, this serves as a reminder that the hardships women face today have been shared—and overcome—by many others." —Kirkus, starred review

"A strikingly original collective biography for casual readers, students, and those looking for inspiration in their own lives." —School Library Journal, starred review

"This dynamic paean to women’s flair for fierce resistance will have readers happily sifting through history—and tackling the future with renewed verve. Rock on, ladies." —Booklist, starred review

"We swooned over California Dreamin’, French cartoonist Pénélope Bagieu’s biography of the Mamas & the Papas singer Cass Elliot, and now Bagieu is back with a look at a wider array of influential women throughout history... Inventive, impressive cartooning." —Paste Magazine, from their "40 Most Anticipated Comics of 2018"

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2018
Gr 8 Up—French cartoonist Bagieu (Exquisite Corpse; California Dreamin') offers 29 compelling biographies of renowned female artists, scientists, athletes, explorers, activists, and warriors. While much-profiled women such as reporter Nellie Bly and astronaut Mae Jemison appear here, so do less recognized names, including pioneering gynecologist Agnodice (active around 350 BCE in Athens); Christine Jorgensen, one of the first people from the United States to receive gender reassignment surgery; Liberian social worker Leymah Gbowee; and Syrian aristocrat-turned-activist Naziq al-Abid. Each entry covers the subject's life from birth to period of activity and, where applicable, death, across about six pages of delicately drawn panels with colorful highlights and washes. The work features humorously anachronistic props, such as modern books, as well as accurate depictions (smoking, drinking). The minimal dialogue is largely invented; declarations and thoughts are couched in distinctly 21st-century argot. The women range in age from girls to older adults at their high points of recognition and are geographically diverse. There are no source notes, but there's enough information, including dates, national origin, and married as well as birth surnames, to spur curious teens to seek out more details. VERDICT A strikingly original collective biography for casual readers, students, and those looking for inspiration in their own lives.—Francisca Goldsmith, Library Ronin, Worcester, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2018-01-22
This French graphic novel offers a satisfying collection of minibiographies about bold women—some contemporary, others from centuries ago—who overcame fearsome odds to achieve a variety of goals, becoming the first black woman in space, a rapper in Afghanistan, a pioneering volcanologist, and more.The lives of 33 women of varying geographical, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds are highlighted in about 10 pages each of colorful, expressive, and often humorous cartoon panels—enough to serve as a catalyst for learning more. Some names are relatively recognizable, such as Temple Grandin and Nellie Bly, while others may be less so, such as Las Mariposas, Dominican sisters who became revolutionaries and human rights activists; Naziq al-Abid, a Syrian humanitarian and feminist; Agnodice, a fourth-century B.C.E. Athenian who disguised herself as a man in order to practice gynecology; and Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian social worker who escaped an abusive marriage and assisted other female survivors of violence. Bagieu delivers a pièce de résistance that succinctly summarizes the obstacles and victories of these daring women.Insightful and clever, at times infuriating and disheartening, this serves as a reminder that the hardships women face today have been shared—and overcome—by many others. (Graphic collective biography. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews