The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
—ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
What if we asked you to name some important people from history—who would you list? If you’re like most of us, you’d probably name more men than women. (If not, good for you!) But why do most people think of men when they consider influential people in history? Is it because women weren’t important? No way! Women’s strength, ingenuity, and perseverance have always been vital in defining the world’s cultures and civilizations. It’s just that many stories of women and girls have been left out of traditional history that gets recorded and taught.
Luckily, in recent years, progress has been made toward restoring women’s roles in history. Most of you have read plenty of stories about amazing grown women and their achievements—Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks—and you probably thought to yourselves, Hey, when I grow up, maybe I can do something important like that! While our current history books are giving more credit to women from the past, it is equally important that you, today’s girls, know that you can make your own impact on the history books of tomorrow.
With Girls Who Rocked the World, we want to show that you don’t have to wait until you grow up. The girls in this book didn’t wait until they were adults to start rocking the world.
And rocking the world doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become famous and fabulously rich. It can mean you took a chance, made a change, inspired someone, stood up for yourself, ignored your critics, changed a person’s mind, or comforted someone. It means you didn’t just sit back and let the world rock you.
With these issues in mind, we set to work on Girls Who Rocked the World. We are proud to be a part of retelling the history of many amazing girls and hope that our work encourages you to believe in your dreams and in your power to make a difference.
With so many incredible girls out there, deciding who to include was pretty difficult. We chose girls who left their mark on history—or seriously began on their path—before the age of twenty and who reflect a diversity of countries, time periods, and achievements. Although the heroines in this book come from every corner of the globe and rocked the world in totally different ways, they do have a few important things in common. Each overcame obstacles—poverty, lack of education, family disapproval, sexist societies, oppressive governments, jealous husbands, and their own self-doubts—to realize their dreams. The road was not easy for any of them, but these girls didn’t give up.
The age qualification made it impossible to include thousands of influential women whose achievements came later in life—incredible women like Sojourner Truth, an African American slave who was a leader in the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements; and Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet astronaut who was the first woman in space. This was especially limiting in the sciences, since many women first had to complete years of study before making contributions to their fields.
As you read the following pages, remember that the girls in this book are just a few of the millions of girls who have done and will do amazing things. We hope their lives will inspire you as they have inspired us. They are definite proof that girls like you can achieve your goals, pursue your passions, and live your dreams. So now it’s your turn to go out there and rock the world! After all, in the words of famous girl speaker Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, “The world belongs to those who take it.”