Spectacular Sisters: Amazing Stories of Sisters from Around the World by Aura Lewis includes some sisters you know, others you might have heard of, some you have probably never heard of and others are so well known even my dad has heard of them!
The woman featured in the couple pages biographies, cover all walks of life from political leaders (ancient and modern), warriors, pop culture, artists, and writers. We see the gambit of siblings who call each other sister. Some were terribly close, others had serious rivalries and some a little bit of both.
I thought the theme would be important sisters of history, women who made solid contributions to not just women’s rights, but to the history of their countries, fields, and the world. But they are women of influence, not necessarily women who did “good things” and moved women’s rights “forward” but were/are names that for better or worse show women in many formats.
From Virginia Wolfe to the Kardashian these people have inspired us to do better, helped their countries politically or make us want to be like them. And the world of Art, Music, Literature, Politics, Entertainment and more has been created by them. Did the Kardashian’s help women’s rights or set them back? They are known for being famous, but one studied to be a lawyer, and several have their own business. What did the three Gabor sisters do but be fashion icons? Did Jackie O and her sister Lee Radziwill devoted sisters or bitter rivals? Did Virginia Wolff and her sister blow the roof off the art and literature world? We follow the sisters that made it possible for the Williams Sisters, and several sisters who put their own lives at risk to hide Jewish people during World War II. Two sisters fought off a government that oppressed their people and, they and others, died for what they believed it.
I would like to see a finished copy as I had an old reader copy, for the final illustrations. What I did see was simple introductions to the women themselves. Basic art, nothing fancy, but gets the point across. We see how they would have dressed, looked and even some of the time around them. All ages can read, or be read to, but probably best for strong ages 8-9, but more for 10 to 14. And of course, adults just curious about snippets (but information) biographies.
