The Rebel Girls Handbook - Rebel Girls

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Author: Rebel Girls

Genre: Children's Nonfiction, Inspirational
Rating: 4.25 stars.

If you know Rebel Girls, you know you are in for a treat of information and inspiration with this book.

The latest offering from Rebel Girls, this ‘handbook’ is unlike any of their previous books in its format. The collection first begins with a continent-wise glimpse of women achievers, with a few token women from some countries on each continent. This ensures a fair representation from across the world rather than having a US or Euro-centric focus. Next comes a timeline of woman achievers across the ages. Finally, there are mini bios of more than 300 women achievers from various countries, big and small. The list includes women of diverse racial and cultural heritage and even includes trans women and disabled women.

Unlike the usual format where the bios are written in a story-like format, the info is presented in a bulleted list this time, making it easier to assimilate and quicker to read. I found this format refreshing. I also enjoyed the ‘Your Turn’ segment that appears on a few pages, where it uses the achiever’s information and turns it into an interactive experience for the little reader, whether through an activity or a question or a fun assignment. The handbook also includes QR codes that can be unlocked through the Rebel Girls App for podcasts related to that woman achiever.

This book would easily be a five-star read to those who pick this up without knowing the rest of the books. However, as an avid reader of every offering from Rebel Girls, most of the content left me with a feeling of déjà vu. Almost all of the bios are taken from the earlier books in the series. So it was just old wine in a new bottle. While it was still fun to read, I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would have had the info been new to me.

I still recommend the book with all my heart, but I do feel it will work better with new entrants to the Rebel family.

My thanks to Rebel Girls and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Rebel Girls Handbook”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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