From Jezebel to Catherine the Great, from Cleopatra to Mae West, from
Mata Hari to Bonnie Parker, strong women have been a problem for
historians, storytellers, and readers. Strong females smack of the
unfeminine. They have been called wicked, wanton, and willful. Sometimes
that is a just designation, but just as often it is not. Well-behaved
women seldom make history, is the frequently quoted statement by
historian and feminist Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. But what makes these
misbehaving women bad? Are we idolizing the wicked or salvaging the
strong?
In BAD GIRLS, readers meet twenty-six of history's most notorious women,
each with a rotten reputation. But authors Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple
remind us that there are two sides to every story. Was Delilah a harlot
or hero? Was Catherine the Great a great ruler, or just plain ruthless?
At the end of each chapter, Yolen and Stemple appear as themselves in
comic panels as they debate each girl's badness--Heidi as the
prosecution, Jane for context.
This unique and sassy examination of famed, female historical figures
will engage readers with its unusual presentation of the subject matter.
Heidi and Jane's strong arguments for the innocence and guilt of each
bad girl promotes the practice of critical thinking as well as the idea
that history is subjective. Rebecca Guay's detailed illustrations
provide a rich, stylized portrait of each woman, while the inclusion of
comic panels will resonate with fans of graphic novels.