Women of Valour

A sneak peek at She’s a Mensch!

by Anne Dublin

The biographies collected in She’s a Mensch! have at least one thing in common: all 10 of them sought to do something about the unfairness they saw in the world.

Young readers will be introduced to Hungarian gymnast Ágnes Keleti , who lived in hiding during the Second World War, then won four Olympic gold medals at age 35; Ruth First , the anti-apartheid activist assassinated by a parcel bomb built by South African police; and Marion Wiesel , who followed her experience fighting for civil rights in the U.S. to the cause of integrating Ethiopian Jews into Israel.

Compelling stories are told about Argentine biologist Rita Arditti , Brazilian dancer turned choreographer Marika Gidali , and France’s groundbreaking female rabbi Pauline Bebe

Also featured are the stories of Yavilah McCoy , who founded Ayecha, an American organization advocating for Jews of colour, and Jessica Posner Odede , whose global activism to combat poverty and inequality include co-founding the organization Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) and non-profit media platform Girl Effect.

Toronto writer Anne Dublin further salutes two luminaries from her own city: Judy Feld Carr , the music teacher who secretly organized the rescue of persecuted Jews from Syria, and Rosalie Silberman Abella , the first Jewish woman judge in Canada, who recently retired from the Supreme Court.

Turn the page for two excerpts from the third volume in the “Do You Know My Name?” series, to be published on May 23 by Second Story Press, with illustrations by Ashley Wong.