Review: Ride into Women's Future
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 11, 2013
I bought this book as a summer read for my granddaughter, but we could not load it onto her Kindle, as her USB port was messed up, so I ended up reading it, and I'm glad I did.  According to the foreword, written by Bob Van Buren, this book is based on the story of Augusta and Adeline Van Buren who actually made the arduous journey portrayed here.  Of course, this is a novel, so the Van Burens may not have faced exactly the same challenges as the Hanson sisters, but they did pave the way for many of the freedoms we women take for granted today.Angeline and Adelaide Hanson are proper young women who come from a wealthy family in New York.  Well, proper except that they're suffragists.  There's a war going on in Europe and despite President Wilson's protests that the United States intends to keep out of it, the sisters believe our country needs to be prepared to enter the skirmish.  Angeline sees a way to really serve, when a man at a National Preparedness Movement meeting proposes women ride motorbikes as dispatch couriers. They do so in Europe.  Why not in America?  As the men in the room pooh-pooh the suggestion, Angeline stands  up and makes a proposal of her own.  If a woman can ride a motorbike across America, wouldn't that prove she could serve as a dispatch courier?  Fortunately, their brother has just bought one, so she's able to start her riding lessons that day.  Thus begins the adventure.Ride for Rights is a short book since it's aimed at the young adult audience, but the characters are fully drawn, engaging young women.  They're well-bred, but feisty and independent, fighting for what they believe in.  Along the way they encounter love and overcome hardship, working at various jobs to earn money for gas and accommodations.  In some places they're able to stay with relatives or acquaintances; in others their bed and board is less than stellar.  I couldn't put the book down.  It was a great read, and educational.  I highly recommend it for you, your daughters, and your granddaughters--whatever their ages.