Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

By Susan Hood, Sophie Blackall, Emily Winfield Martin and 11 more

“Each poem and illustration shines with a personality all its own.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“This book has definitely made an impact on my life.” —Kitt Shapiro, daughter of Eartha Kitt

Fresh, accessible, and inspiring, Shaking Things Up introduces fourteen revolutionary young women—each paired with a noteworthy female artist—to the next generation of activists, trailblazers, and rabble-rousers.

From the award-winning author of Ada’s Violin and Lifeboat 12, Susan Hood, this is a poetic and visual celebration of persistent women throughout history.

In this book of poems, you will find Mary Anning, who was just thirteen when she unearthed a prehistoric fossil. You’ll meet Ruby Bridges, the brave six-year-old who helped end segregation in the South. And Maya Lin, who at twenty-one won a competition to create a war memorial, and then had to appear before Congress to defend her right to create.

And those are just a few of the young women included in this book. Readers will also hear about Molly Williams, Annette Kellerman, Nellie Bly, Pura Belpré, Frida Kahlo, Jacqueline and Eileen Nearne, Frances Moore Lappé, Mae Jemison, Angela Zhang, and Malala Yousafzai—all whose stories will enthrall and inspire. This poetry collection was written, illustrated, edited, and designed by women and includes an author’s note, a timeline, and additional resources.

With artwork by award-winning and bestselling artists including Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, Lisa Brown, Hadley Hooper, Emily Winfield Martin, Oge Mora, Julie Morstad, Sara Palacios, LeUyen Pham, Erin Robinson, Isabel Roxas, Shadra Strickland, and Melissa Sweet.

A 2019 Bank Street Best Book of the Year 

Named to the 2019 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List

Selected for CCBC Choices Book 2019

Selected as a Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2019

Named to the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s 2018 list of Great Books for Kids

2020-2021 South Carolina Picture Book Award Nominee

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063335608

Susan Hood

Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many books for young readers, including Alias Anna, Lifeboat 12, Ada’s Violin, Brothers in Arms, The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics, Shaking Things Up, and Titan and the Wild Boars. She is the recipient of an E. B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book Honor, the Christopher Award, the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, the Golden Kite Award, and the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, given annually for “a distinguished work of nonfiction.” Visit her at susanhoodbooks.com.

Book preview

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Reviews for Shaking Things Up

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author Susan Hood joins forces with fourteen woman illustrators in this poetic picture-book examination of the lives of fourteen young women who did extraordinary things. The women profiled include well-known figures like Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, African-American civil rights activist Ruby Bridges, and Pakistani education advocate and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai. Other figures - 18th-century firefighter Molly Williams, cancer researcher Angela Zhang, World War II spies Jacqueline and Eileen Nearne - are less well known. All of the women - the others include: Nellie Bly, Annette Kellerman, Pura Belpré, Frances Moore Lappé, Mae Jemison, Maya Lin - are interesting. Each two-page spread here features one of these women, with a poem from Hood and artwork from a different illustrator. The book concludes with an author's note, and a section of source materials and further reading, for each of the fourteen figures discussed...Compilation biographies featuring women who did groundbreaking things have been quite popular in the last few years, from Chelsea Clinton's She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World and She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History to Vashti Harrison's Little Leaders: Visionary Women Around the World and Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, and many more besides. Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World is the first I have encountered in poetic form, and the first to features multiple illustrators, as well as multiples subjects. I enjoyed it, and although already familiar with most of the women profiled, did learn some things. The artwork was appealing, and it was quite interesting to see the different styles utilized by the various artists. I think my favorite sections, from a visual perspective, were those done by Julie Morstad and Melissa Sweet. This sort of anthology of mini-biographies can be very useful, I believe, especially for young readers who are not already familiar with most of the women discussed. It will offer an introduction to a variety of life stories, which the child can then pursue in greater detail. Recommended to young biography lovers, and to picture-book readers searching for stories of women who achieved great things, and made a difference in the world.