50 Impressive Kids and Their Amazing (and True!) Stories

Gr 4–7—Mitchell introduces a group of amazing children and women from many fields. In Kids, she provides very brief chapters on impressive kids who represent many cultures and time periods; included are the famous, such as Stevie Wonder, Emma Watson, Joan of Arc, Louis Braille, and Anne Frank, and the little known (Marc Márquez, Q'orianka Kilcher, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, and Elagabalus). Likewise, 50 Unbelievable Women highlights both iconic (Catherine the Great, Marie Curie, Julia Child, and Harriet Tubman) and more obscure (Tegla Loroupe, Murasaki Shikibu, and Diane Humetewa) women. Most of the stories positively reflect the subjects' lives. However, the writing is dry and the information is scant, especially in Women. Though the figures are culturally diverse, political diversity is lacking, as all of the modern American women affiliated with politics espouse liberal views. Mitchell includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg (whom she erroneously refers to as "the first Jewish person to serve on the Supreme Court") but excludes Sandra Day O'Connor. Mitchell's desire to showcase the positive aspects of the people she depicts may lead to some misconceptions (readers could be forgiven for thinking that Catherine the Great was a nice ruler who truly cared about her subjects). Additionally, some of the subjects of Kids were already adults before they achieved anything of note (Mary Shelley was 19 when she wrote Frankenstein).