Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Girl Rebels: From Greta Thunberg to Malala, Five Inspirational Tales of Courage' by Various

I happened upon this at a random shop today, and wow am I glad to read about real, inspiring women and girls again. It's what I, and everybody else, needs.

'Girl Rebels: From Greta Thunberg to Malala, Five Inspirational Tales of Courage' is a comic collection telling the real life journeys and triumphs of six extraordinary, altruistic, noble, selfless, brave, determined young girl activists (plus others, such as their sisters), who never gave up in a toxic, violent, patriarchal world that hates and fears them, and loves to tear them down at every opportunity:

Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Syrian swimming champion and refugee (and saviour of and voice for refugees) Yusra Mardini, her sister Sara Mardini, school shooting survivor and fighter for US gun control Emma (X) González (and her surviving school friends, including Jaclyn Corin), and Bali/Indonesian ecologists and founders of Bye Bye Plastic Bags Melati Wijsen and Isabel Wijsen.

They are far from the only young women fighting for a better world today - in ethics and politics - but they are who the book covers.

Through all the darkness, there is light: it is truly inspirational and life-affirming to be reminded of what humans, when they work together, are capable of; with enough courage, brains, heart, passion, and perseverance, and the unrelenting resolve to tell the truth, to make their voices heard, no matter the obstacles.

I guess my four out of five star rating is due to a couple tiny issues I have with an artwork or two, including outright errors (although a lot of it is great, don't get me wrong), and current 2026 cynicism and hopelessness (this came out in 2023).

With every reminder that, inexplicably and inescapably, things are in fact getting worse, and the world is run by literally the worst people - that evil is real, that monsters are real, and capitalism and the white supremacist patriarchy and the right wing have made it possible - it's books like 'Girl Rebels' that also remind us that hope still exists. And it is thanks to the incredible efforts and bravery of girls and women, the pioneers of progress and caring about others, and therefore society's oldest targets of scapegoating, scorn, hate, fear and bigotry.

Girls should run the world. They are the ones who can save us all. And here is the proof. Here is why.

We just have to listen to them.

(It's great to read about Greta and Malala again, as well.)

Final Score: 4/5