Publication: Great Books For Girls: More than 600 Books to Inspire Today's Girls and Tomorrow's Women

• Odean, Kathleen

LCCN: 96-44392

The first reference of its kind, Great Books for Girls is
an invaluable list of more than six hundred titles--picture
books, novels, mysteries, biographies, folktales, sports
books, and more--that will encourage, challenge, and
ultimately nurture in girls the strong qualities our
culture
so often suppresses.  
Kathleen Odean, a librarian and former member of the
prestigious Caldecott and Newbery Award committees, has
gathered and annotated a list of books starring bold,
confident heroines for children from toddlers to age
fourteen.  Here are old favorites such as Eloise,
Harriet the Spy, Mrs.  Basil E. Frankweiler, and Ramona the
Pest; new inspirations such as Cinder Edna, Sheila Rae the
Brave, Herculeah Jones, and Princess Smartypants; and
real-life admirable women such as Eleanor of
Aquitaine, Jane Goodall, Toni Morrison, Eleanor Roosevelt,
and Helen Keller.

In these books, girls and women are creative, capable,
articulate, and intelligent, solving problems, facing
challenges, resolving conflicts, and going on quests.  They
are not sidekicks or tokens, waiting to be rescued;
they are doing the rescuing.  Nor are they waiting for a
male to provide a happy ending; they are fashioning their
own stories and their own endings.  Packed with expert
guidance,Great Books for Girls is an essential volume that
will give girls of all ages the power of hope.