Women of Steel and Stone

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Reviews

“A truly inspirational read, this is the kind of book that will motivate young readers to learn more about a field they may not have thought about much before” and “This could be a research or pleasure read for teens as well as adults. This book is highly recommended for school and public libraries.” 

— VOYA

“Women of Steel and Stone is chock-full of role models. With easy-to-read and well-written stories of inspirational women, you can pick up the book and read about just one of these accomplished women or treat yourself to all 22.” 

— Stacey M. DelVecchio, 2013–14 Society of Women Engineers President

“The 22 women profiled here set their sights on becoming architects or engineers—and were not deterred from following their dreams. For those in the early part of the twentieth century, three formidable hurdles had to be jumped: (1) finding universities with an architecture/engineering program, (2) securing seats in male-dominated programs, and (3) making a place for themselves within the field. Indeed, each woman profiled here serves as a champion for women’s rights. The book is divided into three sections—“Architects,” “Engineers,” and “Landscape Engineers”—and each biographical profile includes a photo of the subject and concludes with a list of further resources about her. Some text boxes provide further information about the subject or requirements for the occupation, while others supplying information about an entirely different person can be distracting. This, however, doesn’t take away from the book’s overall appeal. Following the same basic layout as others in the Women in Action series, this inspiring collection will certainly find a place in a middle- or high-school reference or career section. Grades 7-10.” 

— Booklist

“Anna Lewis skillfully delivers real-life stories of successful women in these fields to inspire and inform readers.” 

— Lucy Sanders, CEO and cofounder, National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT)

“Gr 6–8—These brief portraits provide basic information about the women’s backgrounds and their successes. There are many shared features in their stories. Each individual had a passionate interest in building and designing that emerged at an early age, when she was willing to do things most ordinary girls didn’t do. They all had strong family support to pursue their interests, but faced resistance in the workplace. Each woman had a firm belief that she could succeed on her own merits and a willingness to work hard to pursue her goals. While these shared features are briefly mentioned in the introduction, and readers can be challenged to find the many parallels among the stories, Lewis does not discuss the impact of race, poverty, and gender on the women’s careers. Instead, there is an emphasis on “firsts”-for example, the first woman architect in America (Louise Bethune), the first woman to speak to the American Society of Civil Engineers (Emily Warren Roebling), and the first African American woman architect to be licensed in New York State (Norma Merrick Sklarek). Despite this focus on specifics, readers who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math will find a much-needed, clearly presented history of women in these fields.” 

— School Library Journal