Warrior Queens: True Stories of Six Ancient Rebels Who Slayed History

Gr 4-8–While this title advertises “True Stories of Six Ancient Rebels Who Slayed History,” the book actually features the stories of seven women—Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of the Persian empire, Amanirenas of Kush, the Trung sisters of the region that would become Vietnam, Boudicca of the Celts, and Zenobia of Palmyra. Each chapter highlights one woman (or sisters), describing her life, what it was like to be a woman in that time and culture, and the political landscape. Chapters feature a stylized illustration and occasional pictures of artifacts. What is known fact, versus what is a hypothesis or pure conjecture, is well communicated. Each chapter ends with subsections on culture and history. Chapter notes/footnotes are also included. Each noted passage is tied to an end-chapter note as well as a citation at the end of the book, which makes for a frustrating amount of flipping. Many notes seemed better suited to the main text. The book uses modern vocabulary and is replete with groan-inducing puns which sometimes detract from the information presented. A complete bibliography, as well as an index, make this a useful resource for students working on biographical projects.