I LOVED the girl-power in this book! A coming-of-age story set in 1965 about a twelve year old, aspiring artist Remmy Rinaldi, growing up in a time when a girl’s opportunities are limited, not based on abilities but by gender. This is a poignant, heartfelt, and humorous portrayal of a girl questioning societal limitations, and challenging them.
“I can’t help I was born an artist,” Remmy thinks early in the book, a sentiment that could be a metaphor for a variety of current societal glass-ceilings. But even more than that, this book is about following your dreams and, at its core, a message of empowerment in showing how far women & girls have come in equality in the last fifty years.
In one of the many artfully drawn illustrations that are included in this book, author/artist Mary Zisk shows what the acceptable ‘Jobs 4 Girls’ were at the time: teacher, secretary, nurse, or stewardess; secondary only to the first acceptable role of wife. Look at us know, women hold CEO positions, are entrepreneurs, and hold jobs that once were dominated by men only in the past.
I highly recommend this book for young pre-teen girls. In addition, Educators, parents, and librarians will also find this an excellent tool, as the book includes an educational tie-in including a look at “The Modern Women’s Movement 1960’s-1980’s and an Art Appendix.
