This audiobook was fantastic! I listened to it towards the end of Black History Month and during Women’s History Month and the book was so informative. I learned so much about famous black women throughout history that I had never learned about or even heard of such as Asia Newson and Althea Gibson. I appreciated the fact that the authors, M.J. Fievre and Becca Anderson, included so many awesome black women, and although this was only an introduction I learned so much and am looking forward to continuing to learn about them. I enjoyed the audiobook so much that I bought a copy of the book so that I could read through it at my own pace and listen to the audiobook as well, as I enjoyed Julienne Irons’ narration.

Thank you to the publisher Tantor audio and NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

This is a great, easy read for anyone, but I would especially recommend it to parents of young readers and teens. Inside you'll discover a wonderful collection of short bios about Black women from many different backgrounds and interests.

Unfortunately, I only recognized some of the names mentioned in here, which is a perfect illustration of how important this kind of book is for everyone to read. I heard about a lot of amazing Black women's accomplishments and legacy's, and felt so inspired by their stories. I loved how accessible the book is because society/public education tends to over look how much women have contributed to so many different industries, and especially Black women.

This is a great jumping off point to start exploring the women mentioned more in depth, or to seek out others who weren't.

The audiobook is an excellent experience, and useful way to introduce the information to younger readers. You could easily have it playing in the car and get through a handful of bios and I imagine they would inspire some wonderful conversations.

***Thank you to Tantor Audio for providing me with the audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this audiobook.

This was a fantastic overview of so many incredible black women and their contributions to our society. This would be a great addition to classroom libraries.

This entertaining and informative book by M. J. Fievre gives capsulized summaries of the lives of some of the most influential Black women everywhere. All of the women mentioned in this book are strong Black women. Some of them included are Anita Hill, Aretha Franklin, Simone Biles, and so many more. The brief biographies are wonderful because many children in schools do not learn about these pivotal women when it comes to history.

The Book of Awesome Black Women is a wonderful compilation of phenomenal Black women throughout recent history. It is full of short biographies on many women that were unfamiliar to me yet whose lives have impacted my everyday interactions with the world in positive and useful, even essential, ways. While the audiobook is great for people with visual impairments and print disabilities, I would recommend it as a tandem read with the print version if possible. It was a little hard to keep all the sheroes separate in my brain without a physical copy to reference as I listened. This would be a great gift for middle grade and upper elementary school readers as well as teachers and librarians.

Thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for an advanced listening copy of this book.

In the age of unlearning history rooted in patriarchy and white supremacy, The Book of Awesome Black Women is so important. This book does just as the title suggests, highlights important Black women from history that many people may not have realized contributed greatly to our society. I wish I had a book like this when I was a little girl.

Throughout The Book of Awesome Black Women, we get a glimpse of the lives of Black women who have contributed to the arts, the science field, the political world, religious spaces, sports, and more. We see women featured from the time of slavery to contemporary society, each one opening the doors for the women who came after them and who continue to open doors for others to come. Multiple generations of Black women are highlighted throughout time.

Of course one of the biggest limitations of books like this is that they provide such a limited view of the person’s life, because if they didn’t, it would go on forever. This length was perfect for young people to get a grasp of important, and in some cases unknown, contributions of these Black women to stoke the interest to learn more.

Something else I grappled with reading The Book of Awesome Black Women was how it was co-authored by a white woman. It is disheartening to know a book has to depend on a white woman to prop it up to get the notoriety needed to get it in front of audiences, especially non-Black audiences who need this information just as much as Black people. However, I do appreciate Anderson realizing the need for a book specifically dedicated to Black women and their contributions, and elevating a Black woman to co-author the project.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to all young readers. Again, this book opens the mind to the sheer amount of Black women who have often been erased from history and provides a stepping stone to learn more about their stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mango Media / Tantor Audio for access to the audiobook of The Book of Awesome Black Women by M.J. Fievre and Becca Anderson in exchange for an honest review.

What a great book! This provides a thorough overview of many Black women throughout American history who have significantly shaped the social and political landscape. While I did enjoy this is an audiobook, I believe this book may be better as a physical copy, as I'm assuming that the text includes pictures, and short biographies of this nature are better consumed in written form. This book definitely serves as a jumping off point to learn more about black women's' contributions in America. This book is by no means exhaustive, and the authors even state in their conclusion that they look forward to hearing nominations of other amazing Black women to include in future volumes.

I have been spurred on to seek out additional memoirs and biographies of Black women by reading this book. I am not surprised that I had not previously heard of many of these women, as the American education system has a bias toward teaching primarily white washed history, but it is so disappointing that these stories are not taught in schools. Black women have been the proponents of so much innovation and change, and all children, but especially Black girls deserve to see themselves represented in school curricula. Black women are the future of this country, and I can't wait to learn more about the wonderful women who have left their indelible mark.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was, as its title announces, AWESOME! Highly recommend for fans of history. Highlighting the incredible accomplishments of Black women is absolutely the best. I loved this book and can't recommend it enough.

3.5 stars rounded up. This is a fascinating compilation of short introductions of "Awesome Black Women". The audiobook aspect wasn't the most conducive to this content, because I would often forget the name of the person being introduced and it wasn't easy to go back and figure it out. Some of the descriptions were a little short and sweet, but I would like to dig deeper into the stories, so not having the names right in front of me made it a little challenging. I will likely pick up a physical copy of this book so I can do a better job learning and remembering! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a really cool book with a lot of great information. Unfortunately, as an audiobook, it becomes monotonous and hard to listen to. There are so many women covered in the book, which is great, but the information flies by too quickly without adequate pause for reflection between. I frequently found myself wondering at all the various things a woman had accomplished, only to realize that I had missed an introduction to someone new.

I would very much like to sit down with a paper copy that I could take in slowly and in pieces, hopefully there are pictures in the paper book too so that I can more easily remember the names of these important women.

An amazing collection of stories about amazing black women!

I'm so glad I requested this. I learned a lot about some people I knew about already and also learned about a few people I hadn't heard of before!

Thanks netgalley! Can't wait to share this one with friends.

For The Book of Awesome Black Women, I listened to the audiobook version, and I want to shout out to the narrator who made the audio version enjoyable. The fabulous Black women discussed in the book are some of the known Black women figures that we all should know of, but it also has so much diversity in the inclusion of Black women; artists, activists, scientists, athletes, politicians, businesswomen, and more; and the way the book was categorized also was so useful.
The book is perfect for all ages, of course, some subject matter is sensitive but it can all be made into a learning experience. Useful resources are provided towards the end to continue learning about the awesome, inspiring, Black women talked about in the book: Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey, Sojourner Truth, Simone Biles, Rihanna, Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz and so many more amazing, inspiring women can be found in this book.

This is a brilliant, thorough, and exciting encyclopaedia of Black American women from across different walks of life from scientists, entrepreneurs, musicians, authors, astronauts, and activists. I was so excited to discover that it is trans-inclusive and includes activism for women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights. The authors do not shy away from details about enslavement, assault, and abuse in among the biographies although the book is very clearly focused on the power and impact of these individuals.

The style and tone is centred in Black excellence and celebrates lots of first (and only) stories as well as a capitalist gains, which won’t be for everyone. I listened to the audiobook, which is very enjoyable, but would definitely opt for a hard copy where you can look up/discover new women each time you pick it up.

The Book of Awesome Black Women: Sheroes, Boundary Breakers, and Females who Changed the World (Paperback)
by M.J. Fievre

I am broadcasting this as far as my reach, this book needs to be in every school. As I listened to the remarkable short synapsis of each of these phenomenal women throughout U.S. History is could envision teachers sharing these stories. Most markedly in the wax museum presentations for fourth grade students. This book is the start of research for many students, as they not only get the name and the short story, but the fields and accomplishments of these women. I can see my fellow educators presenting Black history month with a stronger, support, as children listen or read about the characters featured on their periodic tables. I would hope that someone missed in the classroom history will be brought to light. The inspiration of all these women, not only help young girls, but all children know that history is not what limits them, just their determination. I hope the author gets her wish to write about more historical figures, and bringing more stories out.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of the audiobook to review. I loved the variety of Black women covered in this book. Many of the people are in other books about important Black people while some I have never learned about. Some covered are people I know of but didn’t know the details included in here. My only issue was the snippets were often so short on some of the Black women that it left me wanting more. Ultimately, that will lead me to finding other books on them or searching for information online. Definitely recommend if you want an overview of many important Black women in history and modern day and a guide of who you may want to learn more about.

I already knew that the successes of women, especially of black women, are overlooked and buried but this book showed me just how deeply disturbing this problem is. our world and our history is rich in wonderful and successful black women and we have to recognise them and praise them.
Huge thanks to M.J. Fievre, Becca Anderson and RB Media for this opportunity to read the advance copy of this book on NetGalley.

I was raised in a community generally labeled as progressive, in a progressive state, but my history education was severely lacking diversity, Black women were all but invisible. I didn't see the gaps until they were pointed out to me in college, and even then, I still couldn't find Black women being represented in my history books, outside the context of slavery. If only I had this book when I was younger. The richness of these minibiographies of these women's stories will awe and inspire you as you discover how much of the country has been built on the strength, intelligence, and determination of Black women. A paragraph or page doesn't feel like enough for each woman and will make you want to do a deep dive and learn more!