Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Stayton Public Library | TEEN 920 MELTZER | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Dayton Public Library | 920.72 MELTZER | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J 920 MELTZER | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | J 920 Meltzer 1998 | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Powerful female rulers interpreted in striking words and paintingsFrom the courage and beauty of Esther to the reforming spirit of Catherine the Great. here are essays about ten queens by an author who has been called "arguably the best writer of social history for children and adolescents ever". Meltzer, by his own description, is accustomed to presenting history "from the bottom up", but he takes a "top down" approach for these monarchs, revealing the personal and political natures of women who commanded power not because "they happened to marry a king" but because they "ruled in their own right, by themselves. Or if they sat on thrones beside kings, they had as much or more to say about governing than their husbands".Most were, by today's standards, astonishingly young. Many were physically powerful, accomplished women. Some were schooled to rule, others not. But all were ambitious, passionate, and determined to hold power. All were subject to suspicion and envy. And all, in their successes and failures, ideals and compromises, assumptions and privileges, present interesting contrasts with the lives of women today.
Author Notes
Historian Milton Meltzer was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1915. He attended Columbia University, but had to leave during his senior year because of the Great Depression. He got a job writing for the WPA Federal Theater Project. During World War II, he served as an air traffic controller in the Army Air Corps. After the war, he worked as a writer for CBS radio and in public relations for Pfizer.
In 1956, he published his first book A Pictorial History of the Negro American, which was co-written by Langston Hughes. They also collaborated on Langston Hughes: A Biography, which was published in 1968 and received the Carter G. Woodson award. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 110 books for young people including Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? about the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression; Never to Forget about the Holocaust; and There Comes a Time about the Civil Rights movement. He also addressed such topics as crime, ancient Egypt, the immigrant experience, labor movements, photography, piracy, poverty, racism, and slavery. He wrote numerous biographies including ones on Mary McLeod Bethune, Lydia Maria Child, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Sanger, and Henry David Thoreau. He received the 2000 Regina Medal and the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his body of work and his lasting contribution to children's literature. He died of esophageal cancer on September 19, 2009 at the age of 94.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10ÄQueens, when they are ruling monarchs, are second choices. They come to power because of the death or absence of kings, and must prove themselves capable of political leadership. A few of the 10 chosen by Meltzer ruled with independence and skill, notably Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great. Boudicca of Britain and Zenobia of Palmyra were warrior queens. Others, like the biblical Esther, lived in times of crisis and made choices that changed history. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a matriarch as well as a monarch, and Christina of Sweden was neither, refusing to marry and abdicating power to live grandly. Of necessity, much of the description deals with men, the kings who came before and after, the advisers, the generals, the plotters, and supporters who peopled their realms. While occasional comments suggest the conflicts that these women must have faced because of their sex, Meltzer writes traditional political history. He has a storyteller's flair and an eye for the small details and anecdotes that bring these queens to life. An added note explains the difficulties researchers face in sifting legend from fact and in weighing historical evidence. Colorful expressionistic paintings, boldly stroked onto unframed panels, enrich the pages. Decorative touches of flowers and jewels on the vibrant portraits celebrate the women's wealth and femininity. While the sources of the quotations that are woven into the accounts are not identified, there is a bibliography of standard histories consulted. Maps and an index add to the usefulness of the book for reports, and the well-spaced lines of text make the pages inviting to read. This book will grace the history shelves and provide pleasure to its readers.ÄShirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In what PW called "an enticing mix of history and biography," this handsomely designed and illustrated volume covers a 2,000-year time span, revealing many events and personal characteristics that contribute to 10 women rulers' rise to power. He includes Cleopatra and Elizabeth I, as well as the lesser-known Boudicca (who led a revolt against the Romans circa A.D. 60). Ages 12-up. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Published spring 1998. This beautifully designed and illustrated oversized album celebrates the lives and achievements of ten notable women as disparate as Queen Esther and Catherine the Great. The prose is clear, clean, and direct in this book that's full of information and insight; especially valuable as introductory material to older students preparing to learn more. Bib., ind. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Meltzer (Weapons and Warfare, 1996, etc.) pulls together what is known and what might be inferred about ten women who held power and used it. He doesn't shirk from the apochryphal origins of Queen Esther, Catherine the Great's probable promiscuity, or Eleanor of Aquitaine's desire for control. Instead, he delineates well and clearly what these women accomplished, and how they changed the course of history for good and ill. He makes Boudicca and Elizabeth of England vividly real, and does a fine job of placing Isabella of Spain at a complicated historical nexus: She brought the horrors of the Inquisition to Spain and drove out the Moors, but united her country and funded Columbus. Meltzer also illuminates some lesser-known queens, such as Zenobia of Syria and Christina of Sweden. Anderson's dramatic paintings serve the text well; neither she nor the author condescend to their readers by prettifying or simplifying the real, sometimes ruthless power these rulers wielded. Already a great read, this is destined to be a favorite resource. (maps, notes, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-14)
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-8. Meltzer, one of children's literature's foremost writers of nonfiction, has written more than 90 books for young people. This one is certainly among his handsomest. In his introduction, Meltzer says he has picked these particular 10 queens to write about not because they happened to marry a king but because they "held power in their hands and used it." They were not saints, and not necessarily heroines, but they did have qualities prized in any age: "intellect, courage, independence." The 10 women Meltzer showcases are Esther, Cleopatra, Boudicca, Zenobia, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of Spain, Elizabeth I, Christine of Sweden, Maria Theresa, and Catherine the Great. Besides examining the lives of these women, he describes their times; and it is here that the book occasionally gets weighted down by names of peripheral characters, places, and dates. But Meltzer also uses a wonderful narrative device; he writes in a tone that is almost chatty, one that engages readers and prompts them to really think about the people and events that are being discussed. What will also keep readers going is Andersen's paintings, which convincingly capture the power of the queens. A full-page portrait leads off each chapter, and several small, though not inconsequential, pictures (and maps) are also included. Andersen, whose artwork is often on the soft side, seems to have been inspired here by her subject: these pictures, especially the portraits, are bold attention holders. Care has also been taken in the book's layout and design elements, which add to its appeal. A stirring presentation, worthy of its subjects. No source notes, but an extensive bibliography arranged by chapters. (Reviewed April 15, 1998)0525456430Ilene Cooper
Table of Contents
Preface | p. ix |
Esther | p. 3 |
Cleopatra | p. 11 |
Boudicca | p. 25 |
Lenobia | p. 33 |
Eleanor of Aquitaine | p. 43 |
Isabel of Spain | p. 59 |
Elizabeth I | p. 73 |
Christina of Sweden | p. 85 |
Maria Theresa | p. 97 |
Catherine the Great | p. 109 |
A Note on Sources | p. 125 |
Bibliography | p. 127 |
Index | p. 131 |