As March comes to a close and April nears, it’s important to remember March as Women’s History Month. Some great ways to do this are to learn the history, get into activism, and show appreciation to women.

One book that is worth checking out is Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu. The graphic novel is rated a 4.5 out of 5 on Goodreads, and 92% of Google users liked the book.

Brazen tells the story of women in history who have broken societal standards and may not have gotten the recognition they deserve. The book talks about women of color, queer women, women who are young and old, and everything in between. 

“I have a book about the history of women’s rights, but they don’t go into the lives and legacy of a lot of women because history is so broad,” freshman Grace Cuenca said. “It’s nice to learn about random people in history from different parts of the world.”

From an African queen to an author from Finland, this novel has a story for everyone. 

“The story I enjoyed the most was probably Margaret Hamilton. I think it’s really inspiring that she took something that would generally be considered a flaw and made it into something great,” sophomore Felishya Robert Rajakumar said. “I’d never heard much about the actor of The Wicked Witch of the West, so I’m glad I got to learn about her and it was just so much fun to read.”

Pénélope Bagieu, the author of the book, was born in France in 1982. Her work started in 2007 when she made a cartoon blog called “My life is fascinating.” She decided to write this book because she wanted to pay homage to extraordinary women whose stories may have gotten lost in history.

Even though Bagieu was not able to cover all amazing women, the book Brazen highlights 30 of them.

“If I had to think of one woman to add to the book, I’d have to choose Mary Anning, the first woman paleontologist,” said Rajakumar. “I remember learning about her as a kid, and I know she was very influential in paleontology and discovered a lot of fossils. I think she’d make an excellent addition to the book.”

If you want to learn more about women’s history as March comes to a close, Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu is a great place to start. Of course, it doesn’t cover every woman in history, so it’s important to continue learning from there.