I received this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
I think this book has a great selection of women, and although I wish there were more international women in this book, especially from Asian or African countries, I think the beginning of the book explains nicely why the main focus is on the US. I like that it focuses on women's achievements without only focusing on those that were unproblematic. It opens for great discussions and also highlights what was great by every single woman represented, without being extremely biased. I also really enjoyed that the women's age-group is very wide and varied!

I loved this book! It’s really easy to read and very educational. The illustrations of the women were beautiful and I loved the layout where the author breaks up the text to show the women’s achievements, best quotes, life story and more.

I wish something like this existed when I was younger as it’s so inspirational. One of the best things is the fact it doesn’t just focus on America but women from around the world and women who have had to fight to succeed.

I would highly recommend this to people of all ages as it is such an empowering read and there’s lots of facts about people that many probably have never of heard before.

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher. Strictly speaking we're not supposed to post reviews until 30 days before publication, but since this book has about 20 reviews up already on that execrable monopolizing review site-killing Amazon-owned Goodreads venue, I don't see that my modest one is going to make any difference.

Subtitled "44 Women Who Are Changing Politics . . . and the World" this book did not please me. The title suggested to me that these were women who are making a positive change, yet some of the women featured here have behaved reprehensibly and in my opinion they by no means merit the honor this book seems like it's aiming to bestow. There are other, more deserving women, as other entries in the book show, so why those women are demeaned by being included with some of the less praiseworthy women is a mystery to me and I cannot in good faith support a book which takes this tacky tack.

If the book had been titled "Notorious Women of Politics" that would have been a different matter in terms of including the more reprehensible ones, but then the better women featured here would have been slighted. While everyone has some less than savory traits, there is a limit to how unsavory a person can be before they lose my confidence, and I do not believe that you can include all these stripes in one supposedly uplifting book without abominably misrepresenting the one or outright insulting the other.

The book description makes it plain what the intention supposedly was: "...this book celebrates feminism and female contributions to politics, activism, and communities..." and "Each...has demonstrated her capabilities and strengths in political and community leadership and activism..." And "...rounded out by beautiful color portraits..." was a bit of a stretch. I don't believe this book can achieve the stated goal of inspiring when such poor examples have been set by some of those featured in the book and I cannot in good conscience commend it. There are scores of inspirational, stronger, better, wiser, and more competent and considerate women who would have made fine examples. Why aren't they featured here?

As a life long Republican and the founder of an organization devoted to building and supporting the next generation of conservative and Republican women, I am unfortunately very used to many in the media and on the left ignoring the accomplishments and achievements of Republican and conservative women, but I was very excited to see so many Republican women featured in this book! Yes, Republican women shatter glass ceilings and make history too. Although, I did wish the author was a bit more unbiased on some of the portrayals of the women. I walked away knowing atleast more one thing about each of the women that I didn’t know before.

I also loved the vastness of the book — it covered women in Congress, the president’s Cabinet, the Court system, international leaders, First Ladies, and more. It shows young women that there are many different avenues to make an impact!

Overall, this is a super cute and aesthetically pleasing book that teens and young adults will love and a great resource for learning about our world’s female leaders. While I read a digital ARC, I love the illustrations and aesthetic and I know it will be even more awesome in a hard copyI will definitely be recommending it through our organization for Republican women on our website! Thank you to NetGalley for a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. 3.5/5

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. So many powerful women in one place! Even though the women featured were predominently from the USA there were a number of notable exceptions such as Jacinda Ardern. I thought the layout was good and loved the illustrations. I would most definitely recommend this to my students.

What I love about this book is the quality of information that is written in a kid friendly way for intermediate students to access. The book also states the purpose in the introduction of WHY it's important to learn about these historical figures. I also appreciate the diversity of leaders chosen both in terms of race/ethnicity and political affiliation. There are also non-political leaders in this book as well. I will definitely be putting this in our school library.

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Caitlin Donohue, Zest Books, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is such a relevant, well written book on the importance of women in politics and why gender parity in politics is so necessary. This book profiles forty four women in politics and what they are doing to bring about change. This book is more diverse than others of a similar type, but I wish it went further as it was mainly focused on American women. Regardless, I still loved this book and would recommend it to ALL readers. I will definitely be re-reading this book when it is released on the 1st of September!

Informative and timely, the book has all the powers to become a best seller. Beautifully illustrated and thought provoking, clearly very inspiring for young women to tread along brave paths against all odds.

Fascinating. I don’t normally like political bios but this was good, it focused on the women that really made a difference In society and are still active.

I'm not super knowledgeable in the political world but I want that to change. I figured what better way to learn that to read about it! I really enjoyed that this book not only talked about women in the USA but in Iceland, Australia, Mexico, and more. I feel as if this book was fair in representation of Democrats, Republicans, Communists, and more too. There was no bias towards one political party or the other. I think that this book is a great way to learn about who's representing you (seeing how this book is current up to I would say early April 2020) and also how women have shaped politics for many years without the recognition. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants an easy starter book about women in politics and I hope to recommend this to the younger female family members I have in the near future!

Easy to read, very organised and informative. Enjoy the categories. Just reads young. Especially appreciate that it does not solely focus on US politicians.

She Represents is a YA nonfiction book with profiles of 44 important women in politics across the globe. Each profile includes notable quotes, a list of the woman's political roles, a short biography, and an overview of her top political causes and accomplishments. Almost all of the women profiled are still alive and involved in politics today. The book is bipartisan and profiles women from various political parties and backgrounds. My favorite profiles in the book were those of women from other countries. I learned a lot about female political leaders around the globe. As someone who closely follows American politics, I was familiar with the American women profiled and didn't learn a lot of new information about them.

I think that this is a great book for teens and young women who are interested in learning more about important female politicians around the world. The writing style is casual at times, with references to some of the women's hobbies and personal lives. Personally, I didn't find those facts necessary in the book, but I do think they
might make the women profiled more relatable and interesting to younger readers.

The accompanying illustrations are colorful and unique. Illustrations are not included for all of the women profiled.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy! She Represents releases on September 1, 2020.

She Represents is a book about 44 women, about diversity, about making a difference. These women, from the United States and other parts of the world, have achieved greatness in the past while others are hoping to make history in the not too distant future.
The women highlighted in this book come from all walks of life. Some have persevered through life’s hardships and accomplished many firsts- in their family and for their country. Some followed in the footsteps of their family members. But all strived to make a difference and push for change.
This is a great book for classroom discussions. Young women especially will be inspired and empowered by these diverse women’s accomplishments and know that they too can make a much needed difference in today’s world.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

An important read for today's world! Caitlin Donohue teaches readers about important women in politics whom everyone should know about. She writes in an informative way, yet easy to read. All voters - current and future - should pick up this book!

I love love LOVED this book! I thought each section on each politician was in depth and non-bias- which I truly appreciate. The quotes and achievements section was constructed in a way that really further proved the points it was making in the earlier sections. There was a great balance of diversity in this book with different backgrounds, political parties, sexualities, and race. This is a very important read and I would highly recommend this to anyone during this time! Also...the artwork is gorgeous! 10/10!!

"She Represents" is a compilation of short profiles of women politicians, mostly in the US, including Puerto Rico. In the Introduction, the author writes that her goal is not to fuel fandom. Instead, she writes,

"We learn about them to understand them, because once we understand them, it is easier to forecast their future policy decisions and-- get ready for this-- affect their actions. Politicians work for the people who elected them, and when they make decisions we don't agree with, we need to hold them accountable."

With that goal in mind, Donohue presents 57 women leaders from across the political spectrum. She notes their major life and political accomplishments, their challenges, their top causes, and their agendas. Throughout the book, sidebars define important political process terms like filibuster and electoral college. There are also mini-bios of women judges, US First Ladies' accomplishments, LGBTQ politicians, and other notable women.

Given her stated goal of equipping readers to effect political change, Donohue's book is important reading, especially for young people in the US who are approaching a political landscape in which the Old Ways of entering government are being challenged.

I would have appreciated a focus on women leaders more globally, but this narrower field is more appropriate for Donohue's purposes.

This book is full of interesting mini-biographies of women in leadership positions around the world. The women included in this book all fall in different areas of the political spectrum, but each is inspirational in her own way and has had an impact on the nation in which she lives and serves. I hope the author plans to continue this series by including more women from African and Asian nations as well.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

This book should be required reading for young people, perhaps girls in particular, as the need is there to engage the next generation in the political process.  This title includes 44 profiles of women, mostly from the U.S., with a few from around the world.  Some of these women's views are aligned with mine, while others are not.  Perhaps this is good as the book can be used as a basis for discussion.


Some of the Americans included are Stacey Abrams,  Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Susan Collins and Betsy DeVos.  Also, for example, internationally, there is an entry on Jacinda Ardern from New Zealand. 


For each woman there are sections on topics including years in political office, positions held, a life story, a what's on her agenda section and more.  Each woman's entry is presented with a lot of detail.


I like this title and feel that it should be part of school and home libraries.  Readers will know more about those who represent them after spending time with this book.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

She Represents provides a great overview of 44 influential women in politics around the world. Each main profile includes a biography section detailing the woman's life story, a section dedicated to outlining her main causes or key issues she has fought for, and a list of her notable accomplishments. The artwork is unique and aesthetically pleasing.

I love that the book includes profiles of women from around the world, although arguably it still focuses a LOT on American women. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on new figures like Sharice Davids, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Danica Roem and appreciated that it included women on both sides of the ideological spectrum (and everywhere in between)!

I thought that the overall structure of the book was a little confusing, as it included full profiles of women but also had thematic sections of notable women, and it was unclear what criteria was used for determining which women would get a full profile. I was perplexed as to why women like Michelle Obama, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were included as mini-profiles in thematic sections while arguably less influential women got full profiles. I also wish the book had engaged more with how these women have tackled (or reinforced) structural discrimination, racism, and sexism in their professional work.

Overall, it's a solid book that provides a great overview of some very historic women. She Represents releases on September 1, 2020!

She Represents:44 Women Who Are Changing Politics . . . and the World is a relevant, powerful and engaging read, which will inspire readers both young and old.