Girls Think of Everything

Girls Think of Everything

HMH Books for Young Read­ers
978–0‑395–93744‑0 new edi­tion
978–0‑618–19563‑3 paper­back

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Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women

In kitchens and liv­ing rooms, in garages and labs and base­ments, even in con­vert­ed chick­en coops, women and girls have come up with inge­nious inno­va­tions that have made our lives sim­pler and bet­ter. Their cre­ations are some of the most endur­ing (the wind­shield wiper) and best loved (the choco­late chip cook­ie). What inspired these women, and just how did they turn their ideas into realities?

From Sybil­la Mas­ters, the first Amer­i­can woman with a doc­u­ment­ed inven­tion (although the patent had to be in her hus­band’s name), to twelve-year-old Becky Schroed­er, who in 1974 became the youngest girl to receive a patent, Girls Think of Every­thing tells the sto­ries of these wom­en’s obsta­cles and their remark­able victories.

Awards and Recognition

A Mighty Girl Best Book of 2018
IRA Chil­dren’s Book Award 2001
Chil­dren’s Book of the Month Club Best Non­fic­tion Book 2000
Min­neso­ta Book Award final­ist
Out­stand­ing Sci­ence Trade Book for Chil­dren 2001
Smith­son­ian Notable Book 2000

Reviews

“This updat­ed ver­sion of Thimmesh’s col­lec­tion of pro­files of female inven­tors (fif­teen in all) elim­i­nates three out­dat­ed chap­ters and spot­lights sev­en new inven­tions cre­at­ed since the original’s 2000 pub­li­ca­tion (Trisha Prabhu’s antibul­ly­ing ReThink app; Alis­sa Chavez’s “Hot Seat” sen­sor to pro­tect kids from being for­got­ten in hot cars). Today’s read­ers will find a laud­able increase in the sub­jects’ diver­si­ty as well as a more con­tem­po­rary focus.The many “per­son­al interviews…employ[ing] a con­ver­sa­tion­al tone” not­ed in the orig­i­nal Horn Book review (rev. May/June 2000) remain, as does the empha­sis on “accom­plish­ments over per­son­al­i­ty.” Sweet has added vibrant col­lages to the new chap­ters as well as to some of the old ones. The refreshed design also includes addi­tions to the time­line of women’s inven­tions. A resource as infor­ma­tive as it is empow­er­ing.” (The Horn Book, Octo­ber 2018)

“This very attrac­tive, infor­ma­tive book will find an audi­ence among browsers and report writ­ers alike.” (Book­list)

“An out­stand­ing col­lec­tive biog­ra­phy of women and girls who changed the world with their inven­tions.” (School Library Jour­nal)

“This book is an inspired ode to women inven­tors.” (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)

Girls Think of Every­thing is a won­der­ful book, as sur­pris­ing as it is inspir­ing .… Buy this book for the girl you love today, and she may well become a moth­er of inven­tion tomor­row.” (Pulitzer Prize win­ner Natal­ie Ang­i­er, author of Woman: an Inti­mate Geog­ra­phy, 1999 Nation­al Book Award finalist)