Like a Girl

Degman overturns the negative connotations associated with the phrase “like a girl” by highlighting the lives and work of iconic female figures. Degman includes Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman as well as lesser-known figures, among them Bessie Coleman, the first Native and African-American female pilot; Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel; and architect Zaha Hadid. Degman repeats the title in the context of each figure’s accomplishments: “Change the world like a girl, from the land to the sea,” she writes of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, who appears planting trees. Penny works in stylized collages that distinctively capture the likenesses of the women, who encompass people of varying backgrounds and abilities. In final spreads, Degman invites readers to be curious, ask questions, “and discover the ways.” Ages 4–8.[em] (Aug.) [/em]