The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls

Spotwood, Jessica, Ed. The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls. 2018. 320p. ISBN 978-0763694258. Available at FIC SPO on the library shelves.

Girls have always been bound by social conventions, but they often seek to escape these strictures and reach for their interests and talents. Fleeing religious intolerance, Rebekah becomes a teacher of other Jewish girls. Vilatte joined the Mormons but with her leaders’ execution, she reveals her inner strength. A stevedore on a steamship cruising the Colorado River, Ray hides both her gender and her goal, that of finding her real family. Rose, confined to a wheelchair, and her black friend Pauline, are responsible for the appearance of Lord Firebrand, who undermines the Confederacy. Ruby takes the plunge to join the circus. Grace, a Mexican-American hoping to become a star, realizes that beauty is not what society prescribes. Carrie wants to practice law so she can prove that each person deserves sovereignty over themselves. Emma’s family uses magic to stay out of events, but in 1943 the Nazis threaten the world and she goes against her parents’ wishes to protect her small Black community in Martha’s Vineyard. Rosemary wants to break in the men’s world of comedy writers for the nascent television industry. Lana Luau seeks to win a talent show for Miss Sugar and a chance to appear on sugar packages, an honor usually reserved to white girls. Susana’s Cuba is but a distant memory, but the arrival of her grandparents threaten to change her life here in the United States. Soheila has left Iran and must decide whether to follow her parents and her aunt’s wishes or blaze her own path.

The girls in these twelve stories pushed beyond recognized girlhood borders and sought to fulfill their own potential as human beings. From the stories of first- and second-generation immigrants to those of girls with diverse origins, sexual preferences, and abilities, each author showcases engaging writing and well-developed characters. Edited by Spotwood, these stories provide a look at 150 years of American history through the exploration of events and circumstances that are not well known. Readers who like to cheer for the underdog will appreciate the variety of tales told and will realize that they too, can become radical.