Written by: Caroline Moss
Illustrated by: Sinem Erkas
For ages: 8-12 years
Language: English
Topics Covered: Black Culture and Identity, Historical Figure, Feminism, Growing Up, Biography, Trailblazer, Lawyer.
Summary:
This is an amazing upper elementary series that has chapters, but also a ton of beautiful papercut illustrations! The book is jam packed with information about Michelle’s life from childhood to the end of her terms as FLOTUS, giving a comprehensive look at her drive and passion for the education of herself and others!
Michelle was a young student that always wanted to focus on learning and lived with her large family in a Chicago apartment. She was driven and focused, achieving her goals and becoming a successful lawyer before meeting her husband Barack when she was his advisor at work! After Michelle’s father died, she reevaluated what she wanted from life and got into community organizing and worked for Chicago City Hall.
Many of know Michelle as Barack Obama’s husband, but she is so much more than that. The two of them have an incredibly loving relationship of mutual support and tenderness. Michelle is an icon that we can all look up to for believing in our own power and stepping up to do the hard work to achieve our goals. In the back of the book are some self-reflection questions, 10 key lessons for readers to learn from Michelle’s life, and a list of further reading. It is so important for there to be role models for everyone, and having a strong Black woman that is highly educated can normalize the goals for women that may not see themselves in our media very often, especially in law. This book is an awesome addition to any shelf, and Michelle is a fantastic inspiration for the benefits of studying hard and doing community-driven work that benefits others.
This next volume in the Work It Girl! series will be out on March 3rd! This book was sent to us by Quarto, but all opinions are our own.
About the Author & the Illustrator:
Caroline Moss began her writing career as a technology and culture reporter at Business Insider, where she rose the ranks to deputy editor over two and a half years at the company. Caroline covered viral content, YouTube and social media stars, and internet trends before leaving to write “HEY LADIES!” with Michelle Markowitz, a book based on their popular series at The Toast. A few years later she joined BuzzFeed News to help produce their morning show, AM to DM, and it was there that Caroline wrote the first two books in the “Work It, Girl!” series.
In between, she has written for The New York Times, New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan, The Hairpin, Racked, VICE, and more. Caroline’s books have appeared in The New York Times, Refinery29, Bustle, and more.
Sinem Erkas is a graphic illustrator and art director with an appetite for experimentation and a good sense of fun.
Her practice ranges from digital artworks to 3D photo-illustrations and her favourite projects involve creating playful and bold imagery that make you look twice.
Based in London, she graduated from CSM in 2008 and has since acquired numerous design awards and clients that include Profile Books, Elle Decoration, Hachette Publishers, Google, SHOWstudio and Warp Records amongst many others.
Sinem’s first illustrated book The Girl Guide has been published in 16+ languages and she is currently working on a series of illustrated biographies Work It, Girl.