Reading Suggestions

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden Figures tells the inspiring true story of four Black female mathematicians — Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden — who worked for NASA in the 1950s and ’60s, and participated in some of the organisation’s biggest successes, including sending a man into outer space. It chronicles nearly 30 years of their lives, which involved fighting against both sexism and brutal racism, and also how they used their intelligence to change both their own lives and this country.

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In this witty, engaging, New York Times-bestselling book, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg discusses gender equality and the work of the Supreme Court as well as her own fascinating personal life and the impact of her Jewish faith.

The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel

After years of women being overlooked in the astronomy field, Sobel tells the amazing story of the group of women who helped the world see the universe as they never had before. In the mid-1800s, Harvard College Observatory began hiring women to interpret the findings that their male counterparts made via telescope each night. Eventually, as photography transformed astronomy as we know it, the women began to make discoveries like what stars are actually made of and a way to measure distances across space.

No one is too small to make a difference by Greta Thunberg

The title of this book says it all, with Thunberg’s astonishing accomplishments ranging from creating a school strike that became a global movement called Fridays for Future to speaking at climate rallies across Europe at the age of 16. This is a book of her most famous speeches, including her historic address at the United Nations.

The Last Girl by Nadia Murad
The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State is an autobiographical book by Nadia Murad in which she describes how she was captured and enslaved by the Islamic State during the Second Iraqi Civil War. The book eventually led to the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Murad.

Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai
From her education to the environmental cause that has become an enduring part of her legacy, this memoir allows you to follow Wangari’s journey to becoming the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

The amazing story of Malala Yousafzai, her courage and her fight for the education of girls is well known. Malala campaigned for the right to be educated, risking her life in the process; now she is an international symbol of peace and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize Winner.