From School Library Journal
Grade 6–8—Gourley's passion is sharper than her focus in this introduction to more than a dozen writers and journalists who "refused to be left behind." After opening with a glimpse of photographer Dickey Chapelle, who convinced a reluctant colonel that the lack of women's "facilities" in a war zone would be a solvable issue, the author launches into a lengthy but incidental account of how the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression opened the door a crack for female field investigators and "sob sisters," some of whom, though dismissively transformed into "paper dolls" or "newshens," courageously followed the GIs overseas in pursuit of the story. Darting from Europe to the Pacific and back (with a stop to record Dorothea Lange's long-suppressed coverage of the displacement of Japanese Americans on the West Coast), Gourley provides an overview of major events, but only fragmentary looks at what her subjects actually experienced or wrote. There are also frequent disconnects between the narrative and accompanying pictures; some pictures are tantalizingly described but not reproduced, others are irrelevant or details of shots shown later in full, and a quote inset into a view of German soldiers marching through Warsaw specifically refers to other-than-Polish refugees. Capped by massive resource lists, this is a worthy work, but more loosely organized and less likely to intrigue readers than Penny Colman's Where the Action Was: Women War Correspondents in World War II (Crown, 2002).—John Peters, New York Public Library
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The author of Society's Sisters: Stories of Women Who Fought for Social Justice in America (2003) offers another compelling look at women in history, this time focusing on female journalists during World War II. Following a brief introduction, which names the journalists, Gourley backtracks to provide historical context. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, she examines the prewar journalism opportunities available to women, including mention of the Sob Sisters, who wrote for William Randolph Hearst's newspapers, and Dorothea Lange and Martha Gelhorn, who left indelible records of the Great Depression. Subsequent chapters describe the events and personalities that made it possible for women to become war correspondents. The women's interweaving stories sprawl across the chapters, and the loose organization may frustrate report writers. Gourley's text, however, offers a rare, contextualized view of women journalists, while her final chapter explores their influence on today's professionals. Boxed profiles of the journalists and well-selected photos round out the text, and source notes, suggestions for further reading, and an extensive bibliography close. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
