   | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 02/15/2011 Macy revisits a topic she touched on in her excellent Winning Ways: A Photohistory of American Women in Sports (1996) in this engaging look at the emancipating impact that bikes had on late-nineteenth-century U.S. women. The eye-catching chapters, filled with archival images of women perched sidesaddle on their “steel steeds” and racing furiously in bloomers on velocipedes, zero in on the profound ways that bicycles subverted traditional notions of femininity; according to one wary social commentator, “The bicycle is the devil’s advance agent morally and physically in thousands of instances.” A veteran nonfiction writer, Macy seamlessly weaves together research, direct quotes (sourced in an appendix that includes a time line and resource list), and historical overviews that put the facts into context, while sidebars expand on related topics, from “cycling songs” to standout female cyclists, including trailblazers Marie Curie and Annie Oakley. The narrow focus on cycling will open up broader thought and discussion about women’s history, making this a strong, high-interest choice for both classroom and personal reading—for adults, too. - Copyright 2011 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2011 Burdened with helmets, pads, and parental strictures and anxiety, many young bike riders may find it hard to regard their humble wheels as vehicles of liberation. Here Macy offers a brief history of the bicycle itself, focusing on the improvements that morphed it from a boneshaking glorified scooter to a sleek, smooth ride. Then she turns to her real interest-how women in particular embraced this novel mode of transportation, which encouraged freedom of physical movement, necessitated clothing reform, expanded their geographical sphere, and whisked them out from under the watchful eye of parents and even husbands. Focusing specifically on American history, Macy displays a keen feel for the elements that will most amuse or outrage her readers-concerns that women’s reproductive health would be jeopardized by cycling; that their morals would be compromised by sudden social freedoms; that their sense of decency would erode with the donning of pants, bloomers, or short skirts; and that all this would inevitably lead to-oh, woe!-demanding the vote. The gallery of photographs (including some images of African Americans, often absent from children’s books on women’s rights), ephemera, and sidebar newspaper excepts is as fascinating as the text, and the addition of a timeline, index, resource page, and quotation sources will make this topic accessible to report writers focusing on women’s history. Relatively short, themed chapters will even make this a strong selection for a nonfiction readaloud. EB - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. School Library Journal - 04/01/2011 Gr 5–8—The heyday of the bicycle in the late 1800s seems to go hand-in-hand with the early struggle for more freedoms and rights for women. With this simple mode of transportation, new worlds were suddenly open to women who had been living under fairly strict social customs; it gave them the confidence to explore new opportunities, exercise, and even transform their clothing from the restrictive corsets and petticoats to ones that were more comfortable, and considerably more daring. The use of primary sources such as advertisements, excerpts from journals, photographs, and artwork all add invaluably to the informative and accessible writing. Sidebars and spotlights on individual women important to both the sport of cycling as well as the fight for more freedoms are of particular interest and create an eye-catching and inviting format. A time line contrasting the history of the women's movement with the bicycle's history is especially interesting. Booktalk this title with Jane Kurtz's Bicycle Madness (Holt, 2003) for a great fiction/nonfiction pairing, or share it with Julie Cummins's Women Daredevils (Dutton, 2008) for an intriguing look at women's history.—Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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