Her Epic Adventure: 25 Daring Women Who Inspire a Life Less Ordinary

As the title suggests, Julia De Laurentiis Johnston has compiled a nonfiction book for children, one that focuses on female adventurers. All of the women lived unique lives and chose challenges in a world in which such adventure was not normal or expected. The book is divided into five sections, Sky, Peaks, Ice, Land and Water, each featuring four women who “conquered” that area. The final five chapters focus on “More amazing adventures”, “Interview with an adventurer”, “Adventuring around the world”, “Resources” and an index.

The “Sky” section obviously includes Amelia Earhart, but also Bessie Coleman, the world’s first black aviatrix, and Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space. In “Peaks”, readers learn about Junko Tabei, the first woman to scale Everest, as well as Jimena Lidia Huayllas, one of the ten Aymara Indigenous Cholitas Climbers who climbed the highest peaks in South America. The “Ice” section features In-Young Ahn, the first South Korean woman to visit and work in Antarctica, and Canadian Sarah McNair-Landry, the youngest person to reach the North and South poles. British adventurer Karen Drake, a Paralympian who has climbed El Capitan despite being paralyzed from the chest down, is also featured. “The Black Mambas”, an all-female anti-poaching group, are included in the “Land” section, as is Rosita Arvigo, an adventurer who categorized and ultimately transformed plants in the Belize rainforest into medicine. In the chapter titled “Water” readers will learn about Diana Nyad, who swam from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage, and Maya Gabeira, who set a Guinness World record for “largest wave surfed by a woman.” Laura Dekker, the youngest person to sail solo around the world, rounds out the chapter.

Lois Pryce, a Scottish motorcycling adventurer, answers questions in “Interview with an adventurer” and provides this advice to young adventurers:

Travel light, take risks, smile a lot, talk to everyone, especially the people who are the most different from you. And, of course, bring a stack of good books to read.

The locations visited by the women listed in the book are mapped out graphically in “Adventuring around the world”, and the “Resources” section features a few books and articles, and one film, for additional research.

With the exception of Amelia Earhart, De Laurentiis Johnston has focused on lesser-known women, adventurers who have not been in the spotlight. Their tales of adventure, travel and record-breaking feats will inspire and interest readers of all genders and ages. The writing is accessible, the subjects are diverse, and Salini Perera’s prolific, endearing and colourful cartoon style illustrations invite the reader in. Young researchers can dip into a section, look up just one person, or read the entire book, gaining information from the text, the illustrations and the many side bars. While the resource list at the back of the book is minimal, listing similar current mainstream juvenile nonfiction books about notable female figures, this reviewer had hoped for a more extensive list including online resources and links. Regardless, educators and librarians will benefit from using Her Epic Adventure for research, read-alouds and cross-curricular studies.