Family history meets fine art in this singular tribute to women, written from the perspective of a young girl who recounts the family stories she has heard about her female forebears, going back to her great-great-great grandmother. Each of the women is placed in the context of her time by the child citing the name of the war era she lived through but pointedly stating each time that " . . . she did not fight in it." This brilliant choice on the author's part aptly serves more than one purpose: it playfully gives young readers a clear historical text-book time line; it contrasts the lives of men and women; it underscores the book's premise that women have contributed to history by leading everyday lives requiring strength and courage; and, most importantly perhaps, it gives the story continuity through a lyrical use of repetition that reminds us this history is alive due to an oral tradition. The colorful figures in the young girl's past--an artist, a missionary, an architect, a secretary--seem at once ordinary and extraordinary. The naive style of Bethanne Andersen's rich oil paintings perfectly capture the story's sense of history, as well as its serious, yet celebratory, tone. Just as Hearne uses the repeated phrase about women not fighting in wars to tie the story together, Andersen uses a rose-colored ribbon, seen streaming horizontally across the background of each page and held at the book's beginning and end in the beak of a dove. Both devices are subtle, artfully adding depth and meaning to an inspiring picture book for older readers. (Ages 5-11) Honor Book, CCBC Caldecott Award Discussion

"My grandmother did great things. Betty lived during World War II, but she did not fight in it." Chapter by chapter, Hearne describes the bravery of her female ancestors, defining history not by heroics in battle, but by the courage and accomplishments of her family of women. Chronologically arranged portraits show how each generation of women inspired the next and now, through this book, offers the same to those beyond the family circle.

Take a journey through time as a young girl recounts the exploits of her female ancestors, seven brave women who left their imprints on the past and on her. Beginning with the great-great-great-grandmother who came to America on a wooden sailboat, these women were devout and determined and tireless and beloved.