Lives of Extraordinary Women by Kathleen Krull

This is the only non-fiction book on my list. I am not really one who reads non-fiction cover to cover. I really prefer getting all my non-fiction via Discovery Channel. This book, however, is a great exception.
Lives of Extraordinary Women covers the lives of 20 women who influenced history. Some are quite familiar such as Cleopatra and Joan of Arc but others are lesser known such as Wilma Mankiller and Jeannette Rankin. I was impressed by the cultural variety of the book as well as the realistic picture painted of these women. Some were not your fairy tale women who fought proudly - some were actually quite vile when it came to women's rights or the way they lived. I could really appreciate the work the author did. She even clarified some more fictional aspects of some of these women's lives.
I really appreciated how she wrapped up their lives in a few short pages - giving enough detail to understand the woman's significance without droning on. It gave me a taste to learn more which is always a good thing. I don't think this is the ultimate report writing book but enough to give a child a chance to find someone of significance. The book is somewhat in chronological order since some of these women were alive at the same time. Some were in politics, some were political activists and others were explorers. I can't imagine there isn't someone in the book that won't strike a cord with every reader.