In Progress: Rejected Princesses (Continued)

Dey St.

Okay, so I've made it about half way through Jason Porath's book; however, I have wantonly skimmed it and skipped to some of the more intriguing--not to say they aren't all intriguing, or curious, or fascinating, or strange--entries.  Like the warlord's widow who cultivated an entire school of ninjas in Japan, or the Vietnamese sisters who waged a war against Chinese invaders, or Phoolan Devi (that was a difficult one to read), or Elizabeth Bathory (this one blew my mind).

There are so many of these entries.  Some of them mind-blowing, some of them fascinating, some of them hilarious and/or tragic.  You get the whole spectrum with Rejected Princesses and, truthfully, I haven't been disappointed yet.  I mean, all of these women are powerful and independent, and they don't adhere to the traditional roles of females in society.

Instead, they go out and kick butt, fight against a system that tries to squash them, and, in  general, be awesome.

I love that Porath takes the time to carefully research these ladies; honestly, I love that he makes an effort at all to chronicle the forgotten women of history who worked as shipbuilders and soldiers and strongmen--ahem, strongwomen--and ninjas, and so, so much more.  It's great.  It's not always safe for kids, as his trigger warnings make apparent on the corner at the introduction of each entry; however, it's a nice addition to any burgeoning historian's collection.

I mean, how could you not enjoy learning about these ladies who have made and redefined history and continue to influence our world today?

So far, I have a list of favorites:

• Khutulun
• Tatterhood
• Sybil Ludington
• Grace O'Malley
• "Stagecoach" Mary Fields
• Iara
• Trung Trac and Trung Nhi
• Mary Bowser
• Julie "La Maupin" d'Aubigny
• Nanny of the Maroons
• Tomoe Gozen
• Mariya Oktyabrskaya
• Ada Lovelace
• Laskarina Bouboulina
• Ching Shih

I'm just going to say it again:  This book is great.