A Tyranny of Petticoats & The Radical Element
For centuries, history has been shaped by the stories men tell. In Jessica Spotswood’s two anthologies, A Tyranny of Petticoats and The Radical Element, a sisterhood of YA writers share edge-of-your-seat historical fiction and fantasy stories featuring a diverse array of daring heroines. From dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains, pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960s Chicago, these young women make their own way.
It’s so hard to narrow down which stories were my favourite in each collection. In A Tyranny of Petticoats, there are fifteen stories that criss-cross America throughout the decades. The one that stood out to me was “Pearls” by Beth Revis. This story was set in 1876 in Chicago and Cheyenne. When a young suitor assaults Helen, her father decides to save the family name and have the two marry. That’s the last thing Helen wants. Instead of obeying her father, she leaves Chicago to become a teacher in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Her suitor finds her, but she won’t go without a fight.
Of the twelve short stories in The Radical Element, I really enjoyed “Better for all the World.” Written by Marieke Nijkamp, this story is set in Washington, DC, 1927. Carrie is different from most girls her age, and it’s not just because she wants to become a lawyer. She finds it hard to read social situations and people’s reactions/moods. Today, she would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Carrie’s determination to defend the rights of others, especially people not considered “normal” like her, made for a powerful story.
The diversity of these two collections made them impossible to put down. From race, religion, and sexual orientation, every leading lady was different from the last. It was refreshing to find such a collection geared towards adolescent readers. In schools, girls get one side of history that often focuses just on the men, but anthologies like these show that there were women who made their mark.
These anthologies, full of revolution and resistance, should be on every young reader’s bookshelves.
A Tyranny of Petticoats and The Radical Element Rating: ★★★★
It’s so hard to narrow down which stories were my favourite in each collection. In A Tyranny of Petticoats, there are fifteen stories that criss-cross America throughout the decades. The one that stood out to me was “Pearls” by Beth Revis. This story was set in 1876 in Chicago and Cheyenne. When a young suitor assaults Helen, her father decides to save the family name and have the two marry. That’s the last thing Helen wants. Instead of obeying her father, she leaves Chicago to become a teacher in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Her suitor finds her, but she won’t go without a fight.
Of the twelve short stories in The Radical Element, I really enjoyed “Better for all the World.” Written by Marieke Nijkamp, this story is set in Washington, DC, 1927. Carrie is different from most girls her age, and it’s not just because she wants to become a lawyer. She finds it hard to read social situations and people’s reactions/moods. Today, she would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Carrie’s determination to defend the rights of others, especially people not considered “normal” like her, made for a powerful story.
The diversity of these two collections made them impossible to put down. From race, religion, and sexual orientation, every leading lady was different from the last. It was refreshing to find such a collection geared towards adolescent readers. In schools, girls get one side of history that often focuses just on the men, but anthologies like these show that there were women who made their mark.
These anthologies, full of revolution and resistance, should be on every young reader’s bookshelves.
A Tyranny of Petticoats and The Radical Element Rating: ★★★★