Russell Freedman has written a great biography of a fascinating athlete. Long before women were accepted and encouraged to participate in sports, Babe Didrikson Zaharias became an Olympic athlete, an all-American basketball player, and a champion golfer. Mirrored in her athletic skills, her zest for life is nicely captured in this portrait. The many facets of her personality, both good and bad, and her public and private lives paint a picture of a vibrant, gifted, complicated woman who died at the young age of forty-five. On another level, though, Potter's biography shows how life often is a struggle that can only be overcome with determination.
Girls can read about how a female creatively triumphed over oppressive conditions.
Holiday House, Inc. 6. Queens In this superb history of England's long-reigning monarch, the language is as majestic as the subject. All of the machinations, murders, secret alliances, and court intrigues are explained in detail. Biography, Doctor An uplifting story of a woman doctor who was a pioneer. She believed that preventive medicine and health-care for children should be a function of government.