Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution
by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner
2008, New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. (0689858086).
Media: watercolor and pen and ink
Awards and Honors: CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book, Storytelling World Award
Author Website: http://madwomanintheforest.com/
Annotation: Everybody knows about the heroes of the American Revolution George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, but how much do you know about the women and girls who fought for America's freedom?
Personal Reaction: Author Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrator Matt Faulkner have created a lively and engaging book with Independent Dames. Anderson draws readers in with a light conversational tone, yet packs a whole lot into 40 pages. The main narrative explains all the different ways in which women contributed to the war effort; from raising funds for the troops, to acting as spies for the American forces, and even disguising themselves as men in order to fight on the battlefields. Insets on each page tell the stories of real-life heroines of the American Revolution, while a timeline along the bottom of the pages provide a chronology of the war. All these components comprise merely the text of the book- there is a parallel narrative occuring in the illustrations. A school play about the heroes of the Revolution is crashed by Revolutionary women on horseback, who procede to tell their stories. The illustrations are executed in pen and ink with watercolor. Faulkner's heroines are expressive without being cartoonish and speech bubbles will draw in young readers who are partial to comics and graphic novels. Even with all of these things occuring simultaneously on each page, the book never feels overwhelming or confusing. Anderson provides back matter for children interested in learning more, and sorts fact from fiction about Revolutionary women who students may have already heard of such as Betsy Ross and Molly Pitcher.
Personal Reaction: Author Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrator Matt Faulkner have created a lively and engaging book with Independent Dames. Anderson draws readers in with a light conversational tone, yet packs a whole lot into 40 pages. The main narrative explains all the different ways in which women contributed to the war effort; from raising funds for the troops, to acting as spies for the American forces, and even disguising themselves as men in order to fight on the battlefields. Insets on each page tell the stories of real-life heroines of the American Revolution, while a timeline along the bottom of the pages provide a chronology of the war. All these components comprise merely the text of the book- there is a parallel narrative occuring in the illustrations. A school play about the heroes of the Revolution is crashed by Revolutionary women on horseback, who procede to tell their stories. The illustrations are executed in pen and ink with watercolor. Faulkner's heroines are expressive without being cartoonish and speech bubbles will draw in young readers who are partial to comics and graphic novels. Even with all of these things occuring simultaneously on each page, the book never feels overwhelming or confusing. Anderson provides back matter for children interested in learning more, and sorts fact from fiction about Revolutionary women who students may have already heard of such as Betsy Ross and Molly Pitcher.
Curricular Connection:
5th Grade History/ Social Studies, California State Board of Education Standards
5.6 Students understand the course and consequences of the American Revolution. 3. Identify the different roles women played during the Revolution (e.g.,
Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Molly Pitcher, Phillis Wheatley, Mercy Otis Warren).
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