Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation

Gr 2–5—Using a format similar to Roberts's previous title Founding Mothers, this overview highlights several little-known educators, writers, and reformers who made significant contributions to U.S. history. Some of the women were motivated by religious devotion, while others were influenced by powerful husbands or fathers; still others found themselves in extraordinary circumstances and rose to the occasion. With the exceptions of Sacagawea and Lucy Prince, all of the women featured are white. Goode's illustrations—rendered using quills, sepia-toned brown ink, and watercolors—reflect the historical time period with a fresh energy. Two-page portraits of individuals are interspersed with summary sections comprised of shorter entries. An author's introduction refers to the primary sources used, such as letters and diaries. Readers may pause at a poem that, though indicative of the time period, refers to Native Americans as "awful creatures" and the illustration of two-year-old Charles Adams (son of Louisa and John Quincy Adams) dressed as a "Native American chief" in a feathered headdress for a "fancy ball" when the family was living in Russia.