Rise: A Feminist Book Project

Rise: A Feminist Book Project, formerly known as the Amelia Bloomer Project and compiled by the American Library Association, is an annual list of books with significant feminist content that are intended for readers from birth to age 18.[1][2] The Amelia Bloomer Project was started in 2002 and continued annually until the name change in 2020. Rise is unique from other book lists in that it selects books based on content.[3]

Researchers, librarians, and educators have used the list to recognize and select books with feminist content for young people.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][excessive citations]

History

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The American Library Association's Feminist Task Force (FTF) of the Social Responsibilities Round Table initiated an annual curation of the top feminist books in 2002 to promote "quality feminist literature for young readers".[12] The FTF chose to name the project after Amelia Bloomer, "an American writer and newspaper editor who campaigned for temperance, women's rights, and dress reform."[3]

In 2020, the FTF decided to rename the annual book list to Rise: A Feminist Book Project. The name change came after the FTF learned that Amelia Bloomer "refused to speak against the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850".[12] The committee stated that "librarians and libraries must work to correct social problems and inequities with particular attention to intersectionality, feminism, and deliberate anti-racism".[12] This belief prompted the 2020 name change.

Criteria

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The judges consider both fiction and nonfictional, as well as illustrated books that have been published in the previous 18 months.[1]

Every year, books are judged based on three main criteria:[1]

  1. Significant feminist content
  2. Directed toward readers between ages 0 to 18
  3. Literary and artistic merit

The books selected for the project fall into six categories based on target audience and genre: Early Readers Fiction and Nonfiction, Middle Grade Fiction and Nonfiction, and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction.[13][2]

Impact

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In 2016, Kimberly Campbell Kinnaird selected 27 historical fiction novels from the Amelia Bloomer Project to "examine authenticity and empowerment" using "Boreen's three stages of historical authenticity (1999) and Brown and St. Clair's three levels of female empowerment (2002)".[14] Kinnaird's study found the books highly correlated with "female protagonists' authenticity and empowerment."[14] The books included female characters that acted "courageously within society's bounds," defied "society for personal ambition," and acted "as a catalyst for change."[14]

Honorees

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The American Library Association's Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table selects books annually for Rise: A Feminist Book Project in six categories based on target audience and genre: Early Readers Fiction and Nonfiction, Middle Grade Fiction and Nonfiction, and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction.[13]

The following lists the top ten books between 2013 and 2021. Before 2013, the Feminist Task Force did not select the top ten books.

RISE: Top Ten (2013-2021)
Year Audience Genre Title Author
2013[15] Early Readers Nonfiction In the Bag!: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up Monica Kulling, illus. by David Parkins
Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President Ann Malaspina, illus. by Steve James
Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers Sarah E. Warren with Robert Casilla (Illus.)
Young Adult Fiction Womanthology: Heroic Various
Code Name Verity Elizabeth Wein
Nonfiction King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman
Rookie Yearbook One Tavi Gevinson (editor)
Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond Lilly Ledbetter with Lanier Scott Isom
A Little F'd Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word Julie Zeilinger
2014[16] Early Readers Nonfiction Global Baby Girls Global Fund for Children
Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America's Heart Julie Cummins, illus. by Malene R. Laugesen
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 Michelle Markel with Melissa Sweet (Illus.)
Middle Grade Profiles: Freedom Heroines Frieda Wishinsky
Young Adult However Long the Night: Molly Melching's Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph Aimee Molloy
Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II Cheryl Mullenbach
The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace Lynn Povich
I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
What Will It Take to Make a Woman President? Marianne Schnall
Rookie Yearbook Two Tavi Gevinson (editor)
2015[17] Early Readers Fiction A Pair of Twins Kavitha Mandana, illus. by Nayantara Surendranath
Nonfiction Every Day Is Malala Day Rosemary McCarney with Plan International
Middle Grade Fiction Hidden Donna Jo Napoli
Nonfiction A Woman in the House (and Senate): How Women Came to the United States Congress, Broke Down Barriers, and Changed the Country Ilene Cooper, illus. by Elizabeth Baddeley
Because I Am a Girl: I Can Change the World Rosemary McCarney with Plan International
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World: Young Readers Edition Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
Young Adult Fiction My Notorious Life Katy Manning
Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir Liz Prince
Ms. Marvel: No Normal G. Willow Wilson, illus. by Adrian Alphona
Nonfiction Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space Lynn Sherr
2016[18] Early Readers Fiction Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music Margarita Engle, illus. by Rafael López
Nonfiction Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm Karen Deans, illus. by Joe Cepeda
Middle Grade Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement[19] Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Ekua Holmes
Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space Tam O'Shaughnessy
Young Adult Fiction The Boston Girl Anita Diamant
Devoted Jennifer Mathieu
Nonfiction We Should All Be Feminists[19] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
The Born Frees: Writing with the Girls of Gugulethu Kimberly Burge and Lynn Sherr
African American Women: Photographs from the National Museum of African American History and Culture
2017[20] Early Readers Nonfiction I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark Debbie Levy, illus. by Elizabethe Baddeley
Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer Diane Stanley, illus. by Jessie Hartland
Young Adult Fiction Burn Baby Burn Meg Medina
Exit, Pursueda Bear E. K. Johnston
The Lie Tree Frances Hardinge
Nonfiction Balcony on the Moon Ibtisam Barakat
Becoming Unbecoming Una
Take It As a Compliment Maria Stoian
Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear… and Why Sady Doyle
We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out Annie E. Clark and Andrea L. Pino
2018[21] Early Readers Fiction Hand Over Hand Alma Fullerton, illus. by Renné Benoit
Nonfiction Malala's Magic Pencil Malala Yousafzai, illus. by Kerascoët
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist Jess Keating, illus. by Marta Alvarez Miguens
Middle Grade Fiction Ahimsa Supriya Kelkar
Young Adult Noteworthy Riley Redgate
Piecing Me Together Renée Watson
Saints and Misfits S.K. Ali
The One Hundred Nights of Hero Isabel Greenberg
Nonfiction #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (editors)
Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time Tanya Lee Stone
2019[22] Early Readers Fiction Sugar and Snails Sarah Tsiang with Sonja Wimmer
Middle Grade Crush Svetlana Chmakova
Amal Unbound Aisha Saeed
Young Adult The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo
Speak: The Graphic Novel Laurie Halse Anderson, illus. by Emily Carroll
Damsel Elana K. Arnold
As the Crow Flies Melanie Gillman
Learning to Breathe Janice Lynn Mather
Blood Water Paint Joy McCullough
Naondel Maria Turtschaninoff
2020[23][24] Early Readers Fiction A Boy Like You Frank Murphy, illus. by Kayla Harren
At the Mountain's Base Traci Sorell with Weshoyot Alvitre
The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family Ibtihaj Muhammad, illus. by S.K. Ali and Hatem Aly
Nonfiction Rise! From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou Bethany Hegedus, illus. by Tonya Engel
What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan Chris Barton, illus. by Ekua Holmes
Young Adult Fiction Forward Me Back to You Mitali Perkins
Surviving the City, Vol. 1 Tasha Spillett and Natasha Donovan
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All Laura Ruby
We Set the Dark on Fire Tehlor Kay Mejia
Nonfiction Shout Laurie Halse Anderson
2021[25][26] Early Readers Nonfiction Consent (For Kids!): Boundaries, Respect, and Being in Charge of You Rachel Brian
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way Kyo Maclear, illus. by Julie Morstad
Ritu Weds Chandni Ameya Narvankar
Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Doreen Rappaport, illus. by Eric Velasquez
Young Adult Fiction Clap When You Land Elizabeth Acevedo
Red Hood Elana K. Arnold
Every Body Looking Candice Iloh
Nonfiction Say Her Name Zetta Elliot
Know My Name: A Memoir Chanel Miller
2022[27] Early Readers Fiction Laxmi's Mooch Shelly Anand, illus. by Nabi H. Ali
The Big Bath House Kyo Maclear, illus by Gracey Zhang
Nonfiction Bodies Are Cool Tyler Feder
Young Adult Fiction Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley
Last Night at the Telegraph Club Malinda Lo
Sistersong Lucy Holland
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix Bethany C. Morrow
Nonfiction Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century Alice Wong
If I Go Missing Brianna Jonnie with Nahanni Shingoose and Neal Shannacappo (art)
Somebody's Daughter Ashley C. Ford

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Amelia Bloomer Book List | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  2. ^ a b Meadows, Rebecca. "Children's Books: Amelia Bloomer Book List". UCF Research Guides. University of Central Florida. Archived from the original on 2021-05-27. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  3. ^ a b Law, Jennie S.; McCoy, Maureen; Olshewsky, Beth; Semifero, Angela (Spring 2012). "All About Amelia: The Amelia Bloomer Project". Young Adult Library Services: 4–6 – via EBSCOhost.
  4. ^ Schulte-Cooper, Laura (Fall 2015). "Awards that Celebrate Diversity in Children's Literature". Children & Libraries. 13 (3): 34–35. doi:10.5860/cal.13n3.34 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Buehler, Jennifer; Plumb, Daria; Walsh, Jennifer (2013). "Young Adult Literature Book Awards: A Guide for Newcomers to the Field". The ALAN Review. 40 (3). doi:10.21061/alan.v40i3.a.18. ISSN 1547-741X. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  6. ^ Landers, Alyson. "Children's Social Justice Literature | Learning to Give". Learning to Give. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  7. ^ McElhannon, Sherry; Rogers, Jessica (2016). "Professional Development and Classroom Resources for the Urban Elementary Literacy Educator". In Scott, Lakia M.; Purdum-Cassidy, Barbara (eds.). Culturally Affirming Literacy Practices for Urban Elementary Students. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 163–190.
  8. ^ Bennett, Susan V.; Gunn, AnnMarie Alberton; Peterson, Barbara J. (2021). "Access to Multicultural Children's Literature During COVID-19". The Reading Teacher. 74 (6): 785–796. doi:10.1002/trtr.2003. ISSN 1936-2714. PMC 8250665. PMID 34230696.
  9. ^ Rowland-Storm, Cuthbert (2018). "Creating an Appealing and Usable Library of High-Quality Diverse Nonfiction Texts". In Yenika-Agbaw, Vivian S.; Hudock, Laura Anne; McKoy Lowery, Ruth (eds.). Exploring Nonfiction Literacies: Innovative Practices in Classrooms. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781475843439.
  10. ^ Tieger, Kelly (May 2015). If I Had an F: A Feminist Picture Book for Boys (MSEd thesis). Bank Street College of Education. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  11. ^ Kogut, Ashlynn; D’Aveta, Laura; Tabacaru, Simona (2021-05-06). "Assessment of Acquisition Methods for a Juvenile Literature Collection at a Research University". Collection Management. 47 (2–3): 87–100. doi:10.1080/01462679.2021.1919270. ISSN 0146-2679. S2CID 236593541. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  12. ^ a b c Jarnagin, Briana (2020-01-28). "2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project committee introduces new name and top ten feminist books for young readers". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  13. ^ a b Feminist Task Force (2021-02-10). "2021 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  14. ^ a b c Kinnaird, Kimberly Campbell (2016-05-30). Authenticity and empowerment: Female role models in historical fiction from the Amelia Bloomer Project (PhD dissertation). Texas Women's University. hdl:11274/10012. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  15. ^ Feminist Task Force (2017-01-13). "2013 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  16. ^ Amundsen, John L. (2014-01-28). "2014 Amelia Bloomer List highlights feminist books for young readers". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  17. ^ Feminist Task Force (2017-01-13). "2015 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  18. ^ Feminist Task Force (2017-01-13). "2016 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  19. ^ a b Roy, Leila (2016-02-05). "Inspiring Young Feminists: The Amelia Bloomer List". BOOK RIOT. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  20. ^ Feminist Task Force (2017-01-25). "2017 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  21. ^ Feminist Task Force (2018-02-14). "2018 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  22. ^ Feminist Task Force (2019-02-01). "2019 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  23. ^ Jarnagin, Briana (2020-01-28). "2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project committee introduces new name and top ten feminist books for young readers". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  24. ^ Yorio, Kara (2020-02-18). "2020 Rise: A Feminist Booklist for Young Readers". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  25. ^ Feminist Task Force (2021-02-10). "2021 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  26. ^ SLJ Staff (2021-04-22). "2021 RISE Book Project Announces Top 10 Feminist Titles for Young Readers and More | News Bites". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  27. ^ Chapman, Monica (2022-02-01). "2022 Rise Book Project presents Top Ten feminist books for young readers". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
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