What Every Girl Should Know: Margaret Sanger's Journey

Gr 7 Up—Margaret Louise Higgens Sanger grew up in the ash covered factory town of Corning, New York, in the late 1800s. This is the story of her daily life in that town and her determination to escape it. The home was bursting at the seams with brothers and sisters. The Sanger family experienced many hardships that were all too familiar for so many families during that time period. Her mother seemed to be perpetually with child, many of which were stillborns, and her father's radical thinking kept him frequently out of work. Margaret rarely had a moment to herself free of dishes, laundry, or taking care of her younger siblings. She knew that her fate as a young woman of the 19th century was to get married and have a family or to become a teacher. Neither of those options were acceptable for her. She wanted more. Each chapter of this compelling historical novel is poignant and meaningful. The book reads as journal entries, with each chapter telling a new story that contributes to the full narrative of Margaret's early life. A historical note at the end of the novel discloses the complicated fact that Margret Sanger was a eugenicist, someone who believed in sterilization of the the "mentally unfit," a widely held viewpoint at the time. The note also debunks the myth that Sanger was promoting sterilization based on race alone. Readers will not only be captivated by the storytelling but they will also gain a historical perspective that will shed light on why Margaret Sanger became a champion for women's and reproductive rights.