A Tyranny of Petticoats

A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers, and Other Badass Girls edited by Jessica Spotswood is a short story collection of some of the most popular YA female authors writing historical fiction.

Stories across America - from dogsleds, ships, stagecoaches, trains - from 1710 to 1968 - some great authors tell stories of young women following their own paths in the times when gender roles were more rigid.

Highlights include Andrea Cremer's tale of the supernatural creatures competing to decide which side of the American Civil War they will help, the North or the South. Caroline Tung Richardson tells the tale of a spy for the South hidden among Washington, D.C. society.

Beth Revis's tale tells of a young woman leaving Chicago to avoid an unwanted marriage - and becoming a teacher to the child who would become known as Annie Oakley.

YS Lee, already a master of historical fiction, tells the tale of two sisters who own a saloon in the Alaskan gold rush - and of the man who tries to steal it.

Elizabeth Wein continues her theme of historical fiction and pilots to follows a girl who idolizes Miss Bessie Coleman, the first black woman in America to earn a pilot's license.

Kekla Magoon and Robin Talley finish out this great collection with stories of the Civil Right Movement. Magoon with a Black Panthers story set in California. Talley's set in Chicago.

A Tyranny of Petticoats is a great collection of short stories about American women, and a great addition to any book collection.

Full list of authors:
J. Anderson Coats
Andrea Cremer
Y.S. Lee
Katherine Longshore
Marie Lu
Kekla Magoon
Marissa Meyer
Saundra Mitchell
Beth Revis
Caroline Tung Richmond
Lindsay Smith
Jessica Spotswood
Robin Talley
Leslye Walton
Elizabeth Wein

Spotswood, Jessica. Ed. (2016). A Tyranny of Petticoats. New York: Candlewick Press.

37 Things I Love

37 Things I Love by Kekla Magoon is a story of loss and friendship.

Ellis is fifteen. She lives with her mother and goes to high school. Her father has been in a coma for two years and, as a result, she and her mother are in a sort of holding pattern - sad and depressed and cannot talk to each other or fully take in what it going on around them.

Ellis's best friend is Abby. They have been friends for years. But lately Ellis is noticing that Abby does not really listen to her. The friendship feels one-sided and Ellis needs someone to talk to. Her mother is talking about pulling the plug on her father's life support.

After walking away from their usual lunch table to get away from Abby, Ellis notices Cara sitting outside. Ellis is not sure what happened - she and Abby and Cara used to all be best friends. When she sits down next to Cara, she feels listened to for the first time in a long time.

37 Things I Love feels like a light read but is filled with deep emotion, the good and bad of friendship, loss and first love. As the story unfolds, readers will be drawn to certain characters and read faster to see what happens to them.

Magoon, Kekla. (2012). 37 Things I Love. New York: Henry Holt and Company.