Motor Girls

How Women Took the Wheel and Drove Boldly Into the Twentieth Century

Author Sue Macy
Look inside
Come along for a joy ride in this enthralling tribute to the daring women – Motor Girls, as they were called at the turn of the century – who got behind the wheel of the first cars and paved the way for change. The automobile has always symbolized freedom, and in this book we meet the first generation of female motorists who drove cars for fun, profit, and to make a statement about the evolving role of women. From the advent of the auto in the 1890s to the 1920s when the breaking down of barriers for women was in full swing, readers will be delighted to see historical photos, art, and artifacts and to discover the many ways these progressive females influenced fashion, the economy, politics, and the world around them.
SUE MACY is the author of Bulls-Eye: A Photobiography of Annie Oakley; Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics; Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics; Play Like A Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports; Winning Ways: A Photohistory of American Women in Sports; and A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  She brings a consciousness of the history of women in sport to the story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley and carries this mythic and historic figure gracefully into modern light.  She has won numerous awards and starred reviews for her books.  Winning Ways and A Whole New Ball Game were both named ALA Best Books for Young Adults and NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies.
Educator Guide for Motor Girls

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

  • AWARD | 2017
    California Reading Association Eureka! Silver Honor Book
"Macy’s lively writing and vivid descriptions of treacherous roads conditions become all the more fascinating when combined with the crisp archival photos, car advertisements, news stories, and quotations embellishing each chapter... Steer any reader with an interest in history towards this fantastic book." -- Booklist Starred Review

"This meticulously researched account of early automobiles and women is an excellent companion to Macy’s previous title Wheels of Change... This insight into women automobile pioneers is well worth it. Highly recommended for tween and teen history collections." -- School Library Journal Starred Review

"Using the lens of automotive history to inform a greater narrative about women's liberation, Macy capably shows how threads of the past are intertwined." -- Publisher's Weekly

"Macy wheels out another significant and seldom explored chapter in women's history." -- Kirkus

"Macy handily contextualizes women’s embrace of driving within the larger framework of world war and the suffrage movement...a spunky title with appeal for report writers." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

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About

Come along for a joy ride in this enthralling tribute to the daring women – Motor Girls, as they were called at the turn of the century – who got behind the wheel of the first cars and paved the way for change. The automobile has always symbolized freedom, and in this book we meet the first generation of female motorists who drove cars for fun, profit, and to make a statement about the evolving role of women. From the advent of the auto in the 1890s to the 1920s when the breaking down of barriers for women was in full swing, readers will be delighted to see historical photos, art, and artifacts and to discover the many ways these progressive females influenced fashion, the economy, politics, and the world around them.

Author

SUE MACY is the author of Bulls-Eye: A Photobiography of Annie Oakley; Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics; Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics; Play Like A Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports; Winning Ways: A Photohistory of American Women in Sports; and A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  She brings a consciousness of the history of women in sport to the story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley and carries this mythic and historic figure gracefully into modern light.  She has won numerous awards and starred reviews for her books.  Winning Ways and A Whole New Ball Game were both named ALA Best Books for Young Adults and NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies.

Guides

Educator Guide for Motor Girls

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Awards

  • AWARD | 2017
    California Reading Association Eureka! Silver Honor Book

Praise

"Macy’s lively writing and vivid descriptions of treacherous roads conditions become all the more fascinating when combined with the crisp archival photos, car advertisements, news stories, and quotations embellishing each chapter... Steer any reader with an interest in history towards this fantastic book." -- Booklist Starred Review

"This meticulously researched account of early automobiles and women is an excellent companion to Macy’s previous title Wheels of Change... This insight into women automobile pioneers is well worth it. Highly recommended for tween and teen history collections." -- School Library Journal Starred Review

"Using the lens of automotive history to inform a greater narrative about women's liberation, Macy capably shows how threads of the past are intertwined." -- Publisher's Weekly

"Macy wheels out another significant and seldom explored chapter in women's history." -- Kirkus

"Macy handily contextualizes women’s embrace of driving within the larger framework of world war and the suffrage movement...a spunky title with appeal for report writers." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

.

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