New books showcase women who were pioneers

THE new year brings three books about women who pushed against society’s old ways of doing things. One was a pioneering politician who fought for policies that are still in the news today, such as minimum-wage laws and environmental protection. Another was a writer of diverse characters and extraordinary stories. The last is a self-described “foot soldier” inspired by the Reverend Martin Luther King jr.

Speak Up, Speak Out! The Extraordinary Life of ‘Fighting Shirley Chisholm’ By Tonya Bolden (Ages 10 to 14) – R659 on Loot.co.za

When Shirley Chisholm campaigned for a seat in the US Congress in 1968, she adopted the slogan “Fighting Shirley Chisholm – Unbought and Unbossed!” Born in 1924, she grew up at a time that didn’t encourage black or female leaders; she had to fight for every vote. Throughout her political career, she worked on behalf of people who didn’t have a lot of money or influence.

In this new biography, Tonya Bolden describes how “Shirls” was a protective big sister in Brooklyn, New York, a debate-team star in college and a day-care administrator before she entered politics.

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler By Ibi Zoboi (Ages 10 and older) – R318 on Loot.co.za

As a child growing up in Southern California, Octavia Butler was a daydreamer who found comfort in the books she read. In Star Child, Ibi Zoboi explores the forces that drove Butler to pursue a challenging path as an author of science fiction. One inspiration was a movie called Devil Girl From Mars, which she watched when she was 12. She didn’t see the whole thing, though, because she realised, “Gee, I can write a better story than that”, and turned off the TV to do just that. Zoboi's book includes many quotations from interviews with Butler, who died in 2006.

Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round By Kathlyn Kirkwood; illustrated by Steffi Walthall (Ages 8 to 12) – R278 on Loot.co.za

In March 1968, Kathlyn Kirkwood was a high school senior in Memphis, Tennessee, when she joined her first protest march. Along with her father and friends, Kirkwood marched for better working conditions for the city’s black sanitation workers, a cause that was led by the Reverend Martin Luther King jr. In this memoir-in-verse, Kirkwood describes how she was affected by King to push for racial justice as a young person and, 20 years later, for King’s birthday to be made a national holiday. Kirkwood doesn’t claim to be a central figure in these efforts or in reducing illiteracy, her current focus, but she writes movingly of being part of positive change.