Books to Read for Women’s History Month
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate women’s accomplishments, strides and their vital role in history. Celebrate by adding these nine books to your to-be-read list.
1. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists by Mikki Kendall
With words by Hood Feminism author Mikki Kendall and illustrations by A. D’Amico, this YA graphic novel touches on women’s rights throughout history and across cultures. From queens to warriors to freedom fighters, learn about women who have shaped history and led vital human rights movements.
2. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Kate Moore’s The Radium Girls examines the the horrific true story of the young women exposed to radium. Newly discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie, radium was touted as a wonder drug and the factory job—held primarily by women who became known as the “shining girls”—was coveted. That is, until the women began falling ill.
3. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Also a movie, Hidden Figures shines light on the overlooked history of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who were crucial to the success of America’s 1960s space program. Separated from their white counterparts, these women were known as human computers; they calculated flight paths and wrote equations that would go on to launch rockets into space.
4. The Moonlight Healers by Elizabeth Becker
A 2025 release, The Moonlight Healers is a dual-timeline narrative about the Winston women, who have the power to heal with the touch of their hands. It weaves between present-day 2019 in Virginia and World War II era Nazi-occupied France. Much of Becker’s debut novel explores the vital role nurses have played in history.
5.The Secret History of Home Economics by Danielle Drelinger
Read about the often pushed aside history of home economics. In the twentieth century, home economics exploded, reducing domestic work and opening up opportunities for women in other fields.
6. Femina: a new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it by Janina Ramirez
Authored by Oxford and BBC historian Janina Ramirez, Femina weaves through The Middle Ages to tell the stories of influential women that had been struck out of historical records.
7. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai spoke out for her right to an education. She was later shot while riding the bus home from school, but survived despite the odds. Read the miraculous story of the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
8. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Released in 2020, Hamnet won that year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, along with several other awards. Hamnet centers a figure often absent from historical accounts: Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife.
9. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Starting in early 1900s, Pachinko takes readers through four generations of a Korean family. After Sunja falls for a wealthy stranger, she learns that she is pregnant, and that her influential lover is married. She refuses to be bought and instead immigrates to Japan with a sickly minister, a decision that has ripple effects for decades to come.
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From composting to planting broccolini to learning about cool critters, Family STEAM Night was fun for all. Lucky for us, there's still STEAM-related programs at every branch all month long. 🐍♻️🐟🌱
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We had the best time!!