Shaking Things Up is an inspiring and enriching anthology that urges all young women to empower themselves through knowledge and determination. Any girl, no matter their age, race, or background, can become powerful and defiant.
Susan Hood’s poetry collection, Shaking Things Up, is a visual anthology documenting how young women in history used their unconventional ideas and actions to enact ever-lasting change, as told through the unconventional medium of poetry. Illustrated by 13 extraordinary women, Hood highlights the girl’s courageous acts and determination through various types of poetry. For example, when discussing the intelligent and youthful Mary Anning, who was only 13-years-old when she began her fossil discovery, Hood used blank space and short, enjambed lines to create a concrete poem in the shape of a skeleton-like fossil. With every page turn, mothers, young women, and all readers will indulge in the fascinating history of how specific women in the past overcame oppression, violence, and societal and patriarchal pressure to blossom into intelligent, independent, and revolutionary artists, scientists, advocates, and overall, well-rounded women. Through poetry, Hood ensures that age and gender do not matter; what does matter is your desire to enact positive revolution and affirmation. (All ages)
