Member Reviews
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Rebel girls have become my favourite because of all my recent reads. I have had a marathon of these and I'm grateful to NetGalley for it.
I am very aware these books aren't aimed at my age group but I really enjoy the set up of them. I like that they give a background to people that you may not have known otherwise.
I think it's great that there is a mix of globally known people and others that may not be as recognised as widely.
The illustrations are fantastic. I loved looking at each of the drawings because with them being by so many different people, there were different things to see in each picture.
Honestly I have read so many books in this series and they are very similar, mostly I read them to see all the different artists designs. It was cute but very basic information which can be a nice chill read and since I usually get sent links for arc’s from the publisher anyways.
My son and I loved reading this together, and listening to songs by the singers mentioned in the book. I love that it was a mixture of women from different decades and genres of music, and how they've made their impacts on the music scene. We recognised most, but a few were new artists to us so we looked up their music to hear what they sounded like. The illustrations were bright and fun, and the information was informative without being overwhelming. A great addition to the Rebel Girls book series.
I really enjoyed this one! It covers many female artists from different walks of life, from Blackpink to Lizzo to Selena. I loved the colorful artwork throughout and thought the illustrations were very well done. I’d absolutely recommend this to any kid who wants to know more about the women who built different genres of music. My favorite thing is that not all of the artist were commonplace names, so you really did learn a lot about the different people.
This was fun to read. If I had young kids at home, I would definitely stock my shelves with the Rebel Girls series of books.
I enjoyed the variety of women featured. it wasn't solely an Americanised, whitewashed book.
I liked the QR codes that took readers somewhere to hear the music. But it would be good if there was an alternate place, like a website, to listen to the snippets for those who don't have or don't want to download the app.
I received an advance copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Yet another great book from the Rebel Girls Series. I must admit this one is my favourite as I just loved all the rock stars in it.
A great addition to anyone’s collection or a great starting point for anyone who is only just discovering the series
Yet another fabulous book in the Rebel Girls collection. The latest book features stories from musicians throughout history. Women who have left their mark in the world of music, from Lizzo to Nandi Bushall, Dolly Parton to BlackPink. This book involves the beautiful artwork you would expect from the Rebel Girls series, with a foreword by Joan Jett.
One this I loved about this book was the back pages devoted to other "Rebel Girls" instead of re-printing pages from previous books, they added a mini section at the back to mention these women (like Aretha Franklin or The Linda Lindas).
A great read. I liked the range of female rock stars chosen for this book, and the images are great too.
I love the empowerment focus of all the "Rebel Girls" series of books and this one did not disappoint. Music is such an incredible vehicle for emotion and storytelling. I love the stories that were highlighted in this book - not necessarily all the 'expected' faces when it comes to women in music. I loved Joan Jett's introduction - it's powerful and such an incredible reminder of the importance of inspiration and empowerment.
I have a new young daughter and this will definitely be a book I add to the library I'm building for her as she gets older - stories of empowerment and following your dreams. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The latest addition to the Rebel Girls series, this collection deals with women who have made a name for themselves in and from music.
Let me begin with a confession. I have read so many Rebel Girls titles by now that I didn’t think I had any new words to describe these books and had planned to stop reading this series. But my kids saw the widget email the publishers sent me, and it contained an image of ‘Black Pink’, the K-pop band. My two girls are huge K-pop fans (whereas I know nothing of K-pop except for they have told me.) They yelled in excitement at the thought of Black Pink in this book. The outcome? I was coerced into grabbing this. So you see, the target market still loves the series. 😄
This mini-collection follows the same format as always. We have the single-page bio on the left side of the book, written in a story format. The right side has a sketched portrait of the same woman, drawn by a female artist, along with one of her quotes.
The bios cover performers from a range of countries, eras, and musical genres. We have representation even from music genres traditionally not considered woman-centric, such as punk and rap. Of course, not all of the women herein are singers. We also have percussionists, music producers, DJs, an so on. There are additional mini bios at the end of a few more talented woman musical achievers. It was nice to see the diversity represented through physically disabled and trans performers.
I love music and was pleased to find some familiar legends such as Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah included in this book. However, I have not kept up with artists who made their debut in the last decade or two, and thus my musical awareness had become quite outdated. (A part of this is because I prefer more mellow music with meaningful lyrics, and today’s auto-tuned tracks are like torture to my ears. Very few exceptions to this. If my daughters read this line, I am sure they’ll say, “Mamma!!! You need to change with the times!” Sigh.)
No surprise then that quite a few of the names were absolutely new to me. For artists whose bio struck me, I Googles more info on them and heard a few songs. I have discovered some new favourites through this added research.
The only (minor) issue with this book is that I am not sure how many of these ladies qualify as “Rebels”. Making it big as a minority performer or a singer who refuses to become stick-thin to pander to modern beauty standards or a group who sings in a musical genre that isn’t “ladylike” can be callled ‘rebellious’. But a few of the women herein are just artists who made it big through their talent but without deviating from the norm.
A bit disappointed though that not a single Indian musician made the cut. Usha Uthup would have been so perfect for this title!
Nevertheless, the talent represented herein is amazing, and it will make for a wonderful read/gift to budding musicians of any gender. It will help them learn that talent and determination can get you far. Suitable for ages 7+.
4 stars.
My thanks to the Rebel Girls team and NetGalley for the DRC of “Rebel Girls Rock: 25 Tales of Women in Music”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. Rebel Girls always comes out with good books, and everyone should give this one a read. This book shares about 25 different extraordinary women in music. I loved learning more about these women. It is an inspiring, informational short read. The art throughout is beautiful.
I read this book with my five year old daughter and we LOVED it. The mix of "mainstream" musicians and "behind the scenes" women (producers, etc) was great. My daughter loved recognizing artists she knows and reading about other talented women in the industry. Thank you for providing us a copy to review!
A great read. There's a good variety of musicians, singers, performers of different genres and eras. I loved the mix and enjoyed discovering new names and learning about their story. The illustrations are beautiful and I thought the additional activities at the end were a great idea. I wish this was available when I was a kid! Would make a great gift and is highly recommended.
The Rebel Girls book has been a favorite of mine to read to my daughter. I like the idea that this edition is coming out and it's all about the music industry, which is not an easy business for anyone to break into, let alone women. So, it's with great joy that I can read to my daughter about Bjork and Blackpink and Ella Fitzgerald, and so many others. I love the connection to music, to life, to what it means to be human, and I think for my 8-year-old daughter to hear about how these women made a name for themselves and rose above the ranks to make great music, well, that in and of itself is inspiring.
The women in this collection are truly rebels for going against the establishment and the only disappointing thing is that there are so many more that could be written about (maybe another volume?).
Another great book in the Rebel Girls series! Rebel Girls Rock is a beautiful collection featuring a huge variety of women in music from past to present day in a variety of genres. It details their rise to prominence and achievements in a succinct, readable way. This book is also wonderfully illustrated. Children will love this and be so inspired!
Thank you NetGalley and Rebel Girls for providing this ARC.
When I started reading it I thought it was going to be specifically about women who make rock but no.
That's why I think the title of the book should be different.
Some illustrations I didn't like very much, I'm not saying they're bad (never, they're all very good), I just didn't like them very much. They felt a bit grotesque.
Other than that, I liked the women's selection. Perhaps for Argentina I would have chosen another person, but they always see Argentina with folklore and tango.
I liked being able to meet women who make music from other countries. Although I always try to be with an open mind (and ears) it is impossible to know everyone. That's why I feel that this type of book is always super useful.
The Rebel Girls series is known worldwide for its clever way of uplifting and inspiring books dedicated to young girls. The goal is to fight insecurities, and anxieties and show them that they are worthy no matter what others say.
This particular book is about powerful women working in the music industry, who despite the discouraging circumstances proved to be resilient and became successful. Well, the idea is fantastic, but it just didn't come out that way.
So we have here 25 women from Big Mama Thorton (blues singer) to Wondagurl (music producer). The thing is there is not a word of explanation as to why these women can be called rebels and IF they can be called rebels indeed! What we have is virtually a glimpse of their biographies and nothing else. The book starts with Big Mama Thorton, who was born in 1926, which means her life could not have been easy at all, because she was an undesirable person in America at that time, while Jims Crow laws were part of everyday life! There is not a word about that! and this goes on and on and on.
At the end of the book, there are four pages Meet More Labels. There are more names mentioned with a few words about them. For example, we have Billie Eilish: "When Billie´s song Ocean Eyes went viral overnight, she went from making music with her big brother at home to touring the globe as a pop star". Again - why is she a rebel? A note about Rihanna: "Rihanna rose to stardom as a singer. A talented entrepreneur, too, she also created her own fashion and beauty lines". Seriously?
If that was supposed to be about rebels - it´s not!
So many women are missing here! Why there's Rihanna mentioned but NOT Billie Holiday or Cesaria Evora? Cesaria performed barefoot to honor her slave ancestors. Now, this is a rebel woman who rocked the world!
Overall this book is such a disappointment, it hurts. Even my teenage daughter said that this is not inspiring, not encouraging, but the opposite.
Being a music lover myself, this book was right up my alley. I love how many great stories there are of women who have made a name for themselves within music. The authors not only included singers and songwriters, but music engineers, instrumentalists, and more. It gives confidence to those girls (or boys for that matter) who don’t want to be the next pop superstar, but love sharing their music in the way they choose.
I definitely recommend this for the young music lovers to help them gain their confidence and reach for the stars.
Thank you to Rebel Girls for inviting me to review this book.
The introduction is written by Joan Jett.
Brief biographies that try to condense a lot of musicians’ lives which makes it a good starter before setting out to research on your own.
I loved that Laura Jane Grace was present which helped diversify the talent pool more.
There were a few people missing that I thought would be mentioned, but at the end, there’s a “Meet More Rebels” section with small, small snippets of others. A few of the names I thought of were there and others I completely forgot. I will say that of those who showed up at the end, I know they’re in the other Rebel Girls books so I appreciate that the creators weren’t repeating themselves.
As always, the activities at the end were a variety of things to do with the focus being on musical activities.