Customer Reviews

Uppity Women of the New World (Uppity Women Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ms. Leon once again gives us an irreverent look at our ancestresses, this time in the New World, the Americas and Australia. The book is a series of very short stories about women who made a difference or were different in their time. I enjoyed all of the stories, but there were some standouts; the young girls who were successful at the ride Paul Revere became famous for, th.e Widow Cliquot and her champagne, the Pitcairn Island women(2 stories)and so many others. I own every book in this series and recommend it highly

If you like short stories about inspirational women of the past, this book is for you. This book highlights the lives of many women of the past in short stories of their lives. I should have realized that many women of the past have had extraordinary lives. This book is perfect to read along when you only have a short amount of time to read as the passages are only a couple of pages per women. Very inspirational.

Uppity Women of the New World is so much fun! I love to read interesting things about those uppity ladies of the olden days. So many of them had to overcome the most amazing problems and they did so with such guts and courage. I think there is much to be learned from this fine book, many lessons on how to live with gusto. I've read almost all of Leon's books and have enjoyed every single one of them, but I think that maybe, Uppity Women of the New World is my favorite of them all. Whenever she publishes a new book I always buy one for myself and at least another one to give as a present. Everyone who reads this Uppity series loves them, but none more then myself!

Great book to have on your bedside table to pick up and read one or several short chapters at a time. It also makes a great gift. I keep ordering more copies as I remember other woman who have birthdays coming! It's not only informative, but also entertaining and inspiring to learn what women were able to accomplish in the past...gives one a nudge to perhaps dare to be different today!

While there is evidence of research, there's much more opinion than fact. Ms. Leon continues her series of Uppity Women books with the same style and humor, but it falls flat in the face of glaring errors. It is obvious from the text that Ms. Leon has very strong views on religion and men. Unfortunately for the reader Ms. Leon wasn't able to set her own opinions aside to tell an unbiased story.

The book is littered with misrepresentations, disparaging remarks, and an insulting brand of sexist humor that makes Woman's Lib and intelligent women everywhere look bad.

On the other hand, if you can ignore the playground tactics, this isn't a terrible book. The history that is right is worth the reading (although not at the current Amazon listed price of $28). It's a good starting point for serious research, or as a gift for someone with a quirky sense of humor.

The light, at times silly, style of this book belies the fact that a lot of research has gone into finding these women and reporting on their lives. I found its somewhat cavalier tone a little annoying and shallow, though. I wanted a lot more information on most of the women. I think this book is probably aimed at a younger audience and I'm sure it succeeds at that. Young women and girls need to be aware of the past accomplishments women have made. You will not find these stories in a standard history text the likes of which leaves everybody wondering just who were the people who came before us. It is a book like this one that will give you an inkling of life before the 19th amendment. Most of the stories are inspiring. Some are heartbreaking. The collection serves to state the potential and energy women have if only given half a chance. In some cases cited, the women were given no chance and still did amazing things. If nothing else the book serves as fodder for those who argue that women's achievements generally go unremarked upon and forgotten, no matter how astonishing they are. It is time to celebrate such acheivements and I'm glad Ms. Leon has put this book together. It's a good starting point for others to do serious research. And I can't wait for the movie on La Hueca, the "Peruvian Mountie" that "could throw a mean left hook."

Brava.

Sue Lange
author, Tritcheon Hash

Another fun collection of short biographies of interesting women, again some I had already heard of , and lots I hand't. I enjoyed reading all these stories, though occasionaly had heretical thoughts. For instance, when she writes about Lucinda Foote being turned down for admission to yale, and going on to be a wife and mother with ten children 'what a waste to the world', i found myself harboring the daring notion that maybe lucinda Foote liked being a wife and mother, perhaps she even found raising ten children as intellectualy demanding as she would have found being a yale scholar. Possible? Also I simply could not cope with her announcement that Pocahontas's rescue of John Smith was just some boring old adoption ceremony, I flatly refuse to believe that, and I don't care what any old anthropologist says. In 1624, John Smith wrote "she hazarded the beating out of her own braines to save mine" and that's good enough for me. Ms. leon seems to be like one of those writers Will Cuppy mentions in the chapter on jhon Smith in 'Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody'. He says "This story has been denied by several writers who weren't there. They refuse to believe it because nothing of the sort ever happened to them."

The book discusses (and not in enough detail) 225 female "Adventurers, Altruists, Abolitionaits and Achievers" of the Americas and Australia. Much of the book is written in a light-hearted style and is entertaining to read. Follow ladies such as pirate team Mary Reid and Anne Bonney, Native American interpreter Sacagawea on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, or widow Marie Van Renssalaer who inherited 700,000 acres of real estate on both sides of the Hudson River, Georgian Nancy Hart who subdued six Tory soldiers at her home, and other women of significance. The author thoroughly researched these so-called 'uppity women' who were not content to sit home, raise families and chickens, and wait to die. They moved on and became genderbenders, headline makers, spies, superlative travelers, and of course "granite grannies." The value of this book is not just to recognize these important women, but also get them into the history books, in which much of the time, they were forgotten. My oldest daughter enjoyed page after page.

This book is not for kids. It contains several disparaging comments about husbands, marrige and religion, and it uses words like "whitey." It is really rather mean and nasty humor. Too bad, really. I was hoping for some well researched inspiring stories of American women to share with my daughter. This book is not appropriate for that.