A Mighty Girl is the world's largest girl empowerment marketplace for raising smart, confident, and courageous girls.
The world's largest girl empowerment marketplace for raising smart, confident, and courageous girls.
Having trouble reading this?
View Online
Did a friend forward this to you?
Subscribe
Don't want these emails?
Unsubscribe

This Week in A Mighty Girl History

Susan B. Anthony, the prominent American suffragist, was sentenced and fined for "illegally voting" as a woman in the 1872 presidential election. Anthony declared "I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty," and refused to pay the $100 fine for the rest of her life.

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer, activist, and first female judge in Iran, was born in 1947. In 2003, Ebadi became the first Muslim woman and first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially on behalf of women.


News Round-Up

Saudi Arabia Ends the World's Last Driving Ban on Women. After years of campaigning by women's rights activists, the long-standing driving ban was finally lifted. More than 120,000 women applied for a driver's license on the day the ban ended.

Four Essential Friendship Skills Every Girl Should Learn. Many girls struggle with confidence and feel anxious about their ability to navigate basic friendship challenges. Katie Hurley, a child and adolescent psychotherapist and author of the new parenting book No More Mean Girls, asserts that girls "are not using organic friendship-making skills anymore" and offers tips to parents on how to help girls learn to manage friendships.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Gives Birth to Baby Girl. Jacinda Ardern is only the second elected world leader in history to give birth while in office. She says having children "should not predetermine whether or not [women] are given a job or have job opportunities."

10 Tips on Navigating the Emotional World of Teenage Girls. With social pressures, hormonal changes, and everyday stresses, parenting teen girls can be challenging; sociologist Marika Lindholm recommends ten goals for parents to strive for when raising a teen girl to become a confident woman.

Teen Girl Who Helped a Deaf & Blind Man on Flight Shocked at Response to Her Act of Kindness. After a fellow passenger posted a story on social media about 15-year-old Clara Daly using her sign language skills to help a deaf-blind man on a cross-country flight that went viral, the California Mighty Girl was stunned by the outpouring of praise, stating "I wanted to help because that’s what people are supposed to do."

8 Things I Won't Stop Doing As A Dad of Tween Daughters. As kids grow up, asserts writer Jeff Bogle, it becomes more complicated to parent them; however, from "involving them in my passions" to "never stop challenging them and myself," there are eight things he won't stop doing as his girls become tweens.


From A Mighty Girl's Marketplace

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor New!

The Woman Who Loved Reptiles
Like many young girls of her time, Joan Procter hosted pretend tea parties... but unlike the other girls, she invited lizards, snakes, and other reptiles to her table! Joan loved all reptiles and carried her favorite lizards everywhere she went, even bringing a crocodile to school with her. When she grew up, Joan found the perfect job as the Curator of Reptiles at the British Museum and designer of the Reptile House at the London Zoo. There, she even hosted children's tea parties just as she had as a little girl, with her komodo dragon as the guest of honor! With its lively text and vibrant illustrations, curious, nature-loving kids will especially love this picture book biography of a groundbreaking, lizard-loving scientist. Ages: 4 to 8
View on A Mighty Girl
Buy from Amazon
To introduce children and teens to more trailblazing women of science, visit our blog post Ignite Her Curiosity: 60 Books to Inspire Science-Loving Mighty Girls.


Is This Normal?

More Girls' Questions, Answered by the Editors of the Care & Keeping of You
One of the best-selling puberty guides for girls, The Care and Keeping of You, has helped millions of girls during puberty – but that doesn't mean it has all the answers. In this recently updated guide, its editors answer letters from 100 girls who wrote in with questions about their changing bodies. Covering many of the common areas of confusion and curiosity for tween girls, including topics such as hygiene, body image, and managing emotions, the editors offer expert advice in a comforting, accessible Q&A format. This encouraging and empowering book is a great addition to your tween's bookshelf! Ages: 9 to 12
View on A Mighty Girl
Buy from Amazon
The popular puberty guide "The Care and Keeping of You" is now available in two versions, one for younger girls ages 8 and up and one for slightly older girls ages 10 and up.


Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus New!

It happened during an alligator wrestling match... or was it that wildfire in Tanzania? With her sharp sense of humor, 13-year-old Aven loves making up stories to explain her "lack of armage" to people. In reality, she was born without arms and it's never held her back from doing anything she wants to do. After her father takes a job running a rundown Western theme park and moves the family to Arizona, however, Aven quickly tires of the stares and endless questions from her new classmates. She ends up befriending a boy struggling with his own disability (Tourette's syndrome), and when the two discover a mystery at the theme park, nothing will hold them back from uncovering a long-buried secret. With its upbeat, hilarious protagonist, this highly satisfying story of friendship and adventure is a must read for fans of Wonder and Out of My Mind. Ages: 9 to 13
View on A Mighty Girl
Buy from Amazon
For more books for all ages starring Mighty Girls with disabilities, check out our blog post Many Ways To Be Mighty: 20 Books Starring Mighty Girls with Disabilities.


The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer
When Ada Lovelace translated Charles Babbage’s plans for an enormous mechanical calculating machine in 1842, this mathematical genius added annotations that included the first appearance of the general computing theory – making her the world's first computer programmer! Sadly, the Lovelace died a few years later and the Difference Engine was never built... but what if it had been? This rollicking graphic novel presents an alternate reality where Lovelace and Babbage build the world's first computer and use it for everything from exploring mathematics to fighting crime in a hilarious series of adventures. Filled with fascinating footnotes about the real-life history of this dynamic duo, this whimsical, entertaining, and educational graphic novel is a standout choice for teens and adults alike. Ages: 14 and up
View on A Mighty Girl
Buy from Amazon
For more girl-empowering graphic novels for all ages, you can find 150 titles in our special feature on the Top Graphic Novels Starring Mighty Girls.


5-Minute Dungeon

A Chaotic, Cooperative, Real-Time Card Game
In this clever, fast-paced card game, you and your fellow players have to work together or perish! A series of five deadly dungeons stand between you and safety. As a group, you'll battle monsters, overcome obstacles and traps, and defeat fiendish Dungeon Bosses... all in five minutes. The game, for two to five players, includes 250 cards, an ever-changing dungeon environment to explore, and ten different heroes you can play; female and male heroes are represented on each hero mat. The small size of the box also makes it handy as a travel game, while the constantly changing variables mean no two rounds are the same. Crazy, chaotic, and full of derring-do, it will take teamwork and quick thinking to come out of the dungeon unscathed! Ages: 8 and up
View on A Mighty Girl
Buy from Amazon
For more cooperative games for players of all ages, visit our blog post Top 40 Cooperative Board Games for Mighty Girls.

Connect With Us


Featured Blogs

75 Mighty Girl Books for Tweens' Summer Reading List


60 Mighty Girl Books About Standing Up
For Others


25 Books Celebrating Revolutionary Women for July Fourth


21 Children's Books To Teach Kindness in Divisive Times


Picture Books About 99 Real-Life Mighty Girls & Women


60 Mighty Girl Series for Summer Reading


30 Mighty Girl Books About the Immigrant Experience


55 Mighty Girl Books About the Power of Friendship


30 Mighty Girl Books About Summertime Adventure, Growth, & Discovery


50 Mighty Girl Books for Pride Month


A Mighty Girl's Ultimate Guide to Girl-Empowering Graphic Novels for Kids


35 Books About Mighty Girls and
Their Dogs


75 New Biographies for Adult Readers


 

A Mighty Girl Spotlight

Teen Ocean Activist’s Fight Against Plastic Pollution

17-year-old Girl Scout Shelby O’Neil's persuasive letter-writing campaign has led several major companies to cut back dramatically on their use of plastic straws and other polluting single-use plastics! The Mighty Girl from San Juan Bautista, California wrote to multiple companies last fall that she determined used plastic straws, stirrers, and cup lids as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project focused on reducing the eight million tons of plastic that end up in the oceans every year. Many of these convenience-oriented plastic products like straws are too small to be recycled and are made to break down quickly; as a result, Shelby explained, "they get broken down into small micro plastic that can be consumed by animals like fish, and then we end up eating the fish."

In response to her request that they reduce or eliminate their use of such single-use plastics, several companies committed to do so, including Alaska Airlines, Dignity Health, and Farmer Brothers Coffee. Alaska Airlines, which used 22 million plastic stir straws last year alone, will shift to a sustainable white birch alternative starting next month. Shelby has also founded a non-profit organization, Jr. Ocean Guardians, and is lobbying California legislators to participate in "No Straw November," an annual challenge encouraging the public to refuse plastic straws and other single-use plastics. When asked why she thinks company executives listened to her, she replied with a laugh: "I guess confidence? I was never really scared of reaching out to companies, because someone needed to do it. If no one else is doing it, then I’ll do it."

To learn more about Shelby's non-profit and No Straw November, visit her website, Jr. Ocean Guardians.

For Mighty Girl books for all ages about protecting the environment, including the oceans, visit our special feature on the Top Children's Books on the Environment.


"The Princess and the Pit Stop" Picture Book Giveaway

For A Mighty Girl's new book giveaway, we're thrilled to present The Princess and the Pit Stop, a new high-octane Mighty Girl fairy tale from best-selling author Tom Angleberger and Caldecott-winning illustrator Dan Santat! A plucky princess is off to the races against all the fairy-tale greats... but when she pulls in for her final pit stop, with just a single lap to go, she discovers that she's in last place. Even her Fairy Godmother thinks she might as well give up... Fortunately, this princess knows the race isn't over until the checkered flag flies – and hits the gas! Soon, she's leaving Rumpelstiltskin in the dust and blowing past the Big Bad Wolf. With her exuberance, racing skill, and unflagging determination leaping off of every page, this rough-and-tumble princess will inspire young readers to give their all to their own adventures!

Thanks to its publisher Abrams Books for Young Readers, three A Mighty Girl supporters will each receive an autographed hardcover edition of The Princess and the Pit Stop, recommended for ages 4 to 8. With apologies to our many non-US-based supporters, due to legal restrictions, the giveaway is only open to US residents. The last day to enter is Monday, July 2.

To sign up for The Princess and the Pit Stop Giveaway, visit the Giveaway Entry Page.


New This Week on A Mighty Girl