Book Review: Rad Girls Can
Katie 
I like to think that I have my finger on the pulse when it comes to Rad Girls, but whenever I read these books I am always surprised to find out there are only a handful that I have heard of before reading the book and with this edition of Rad Girls Can, I found the same thing to be true. Why are there so many Rad Girls out there that I otherwise have not heard about? Where is all the media and social media coverage for them? At least I keep reading these books to educate myself and I hope that if you have a daughter you give her these books to read as well so she can find out about the Rad Girls out there and hopefully follow in their footsteps!
This book contains 50 girls – all of who have done amazing things before they even turned 20 years old. It also includes some who are transgender. The book notes that it believes in celebrating the greatness of all young people, but this book only focuses on females. This book is full of great and inspiring stories of all these girls that have done amazing things. It kind of makes me feel like quite a slacker! But I always enjoy reading about girls who kick ass, and these in this book certainly do.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
From the New York Times best-selling authors of Rad Women Worldwide and Rad American Women A-Z, a bold and brave collection of stories and art about inspiring and accomplished girls who have made positive impacts on the world before the age of 20.
You might know the stories of Malala Yousafzai, Anne Frank, Jazz Jennings, and Joan of Arc. But have you heard about Yusra Mardini, a Syrian refugee who swam a sinking boat to shore, saved twenty lives, then went on to compete as an Olympic swimmer? Or Trisha Prabhu, who invented an anti-cyberbullying app at age 13? Or Barbara Rose Johns, whose high school protest helped spark the civil rights movement?
In Rad Girls Can, you’ll learn about a diverse group of young women who are living rad lives, whether excelling in male-dominated sports like boxing, rock climbing, or skateboarding; speaking out against injustice and discrimination; expressing themselves through dance, writing, and music; or advocating for girls around the world. Each profile is paired with the dynamic paper-cut art that made the authors’ first two books New York Times best sellers. Featuring both contemporary and historical figures, Rad Girls Can offers hope, inspiration, and motivation to readers of all ages and genders.
The Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City is a really cool book. It breaks down different neighborhoods in NYC and how they relate to stories in Rock And Roll History. There is the address to the location, details about it and photos in some cases. It is also noted if the location no longer exists, and instead just shares the stories locations. Certain more iconic bands have their own sections in the book – for instance The Beatles have their own chapter and John and Yoko have a chapter as well. It was fun to go through and see which locations I have been to (not many) and which I have heard of (some, but nowhere near all).
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is a book full of photos and details on America’s Legendary Mach 3 Spy Plane. It is really cool to see all the photos of this plane and all about the history of it.
200 Embroidered Flowers has instructions on how to make some really cool looking embroidered flower designs. This isn’t something I have tried to do before, but the way the book explains all the knots and stitchings in the beginning of the book makes it seem like this is something I might be able to try out! Of course, I had to check to see if there was a pansy design included and was happy to see that there was – and a hop plant as well! Maybe I’ll soon be on my way to a Hanson themed embroidered flower display…
Lies We Tell Our Kids is a book of lies that parents have told their kids – and some cute and creepy illustrations of them. Like George Washington was the first president in space and fish don’t sleep so we can. I am not sure how many of these are actually told by parents – but there were a handful that I had heard at one point or another! Really cute book that gave me a few good laughs.
One To Watch Me and One To See Me are a series of 2 books in “The ONE Series”. Emmeline needs to get away from her family, former fiance and job for a bit. She ends up booking a trip from Chicago to Miami to stay in a beach house for a bit to regroup and find herself. Someone there is watching her, and she knows it. She ends up meeting a handsome stranger and spending almost all of her free time with him. Their relationship turns hot and heavy almost immediately and she seems to throw out all of her fears and inhibitions even though she normally seems to have such a good head on her shoulders. These books are two short pieces of the story, but I could not stop reading either and wanting to know more about what was going on with her former fiance and if he was playing her and her father and his business. I also really wanted to know who the heck was watching her, even though I had my ideas from the beginning of the series as to who it might be. (I doubted myself a couple of times, but in the end, I was right) I really enjoy these quick read romance stories because there is a lot of action and not a lot of backstory.
Altered to Death is another one of the Scrap This murder mysteries. When I started this book back in December I realized that I had missed out on 2 of the books in the series and considered going back to read the other two before this one. When I realized I was never going to find the time to catch up, I decided to skip them. I don’t think that I missed out on any major details by skipping those 2 books in the series and maybe eventually I will be able to go back to them. I think this is the first one that I read where the murder mystery didn’t revolve around the scrapbook store.
Alan Alexander Milne is probably best known for the creation of Winnie the Pooh and friends. But AA Milne was also a playwright, screen writer and novelist. Even 60 years after his death, he is a mystery to many. He died resentful because he was only known as a ‘whimsical’ children’s author. His son, Christopher Robin, felt exploited, even though the stories were a combination of things that happened to Christopher, things that happened during AA Milne’s childhood and other things that were made up. But Christopher was always picked on about being the “real” Christopher Robin. He ended up marrying his first cousin which led to them having a handicapped child – their daughter, Clare, had Cerebral Palsy. Alan married Daphne and they slept in separate rooms. Many believe Daphne to be ‘anti sex’. Most of Christopher’s time was spent with a nanny growing up. It is also said that the home they lived in was cursed – it was sold to Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who ended up found dead in the pool.
Stop coding is all about how to become an automated test engineer with no coding knowledge needed. I found this to be interesting since what he is looking to replace is what I had been doing at work, so it was interesting to me and also scary – how easily we could all be replaced! It is easier to retest quickly when things are automated so it saves time and money. In addition to talking about