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Looking for books that show strong, confident females? Hate the pop culture princess obsession as much as I do? Want more than pink and sparkles for your daughters? If so, you will want to check out Rejected Princesses Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath (former Dreamworks effects animator).
Rejected Princessescovers historical women you have probably never heard of such as Phoolan Devi and Boudica. It is full of history, geography, and stories about the amazing strength of the human spirit. This book contains the short biographies (3-5 pages each) of fifty women from all over the world.
Rejected Princesses is pretty much the anti-thesis to pink and sparkles. But I have to warn you, it’s quite graphic. While I love the fact that it comes with a warning (each chapter is rated on a scale of 1-5 for maturity and has symbols to warn if it includes violence, abuse, sex, rape, and self-harm) it has a rating system for a reason.
This book is recommended for ages 12 to adult. I definitely would not want it in the hands of anyone younger than that. In fact, I would say 14 and up is a better age. If you lean more toward the conservative side you probably won’t like this book (especially in the hands of your kids). On the other hand, this book does a fantastic job of teaching about many female heroines you likely have never heard of.
The illustrations will likely intrigue younger children and they may want to read it. I love that it starts with the milder stories, so if you were wanting to read it aloud, you could start at the beginning and just stop reading once they got too graphic for you.
I would give this book a 3 out of 5 because of the graphic nature of some of the stories. Just remember it is for teens and older. This book is definitely worth checking out to see if it is a good fit for your family.