Skip To Main Content

The 2021 Kents Hill School Women's History Month Reading List

The 2021 Kents Hill School Women's History Month Reading List

If you are familiar with Kents Hill School, it is likely that you know we live by ten words that together represent Leadership: Altruism, Compassion, Courage, Friendship, Honesty, Perseverance, Responsibility, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Tolerance. For us, Women’s History Month (March) is a time to invoke many of these Core Values. A time when we have a responsibility to learn about and respect (tolerance) the female perspective as well as the journey they’ve taken thus far so that we can build more effective, equitable leaders on campus. 

The books below were compiled by our team and represent everything from feminism and adolescence to being marginalized and what it means to lead as a woman. 

“Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover
“The book describes the author's off-the-grid girlhood in rural Idaho. Her family is innovative and resourceful, but her father's paranoia and her brother's violent possessiveness turn her adolescence into a frightening ordeal. Westover's ability to survive her upbringing—and, what's more, to learn from it—makes this memoir a truly compelling read.” —Ben Priest, Dean of Academics

“Hunger” and “Bad Feminist” by Roxanne Gay
“Roxanne Gay is brave and honest and a great writer. I've heard her speak and she's amazing.  Her books are powerful (but not for the faint of heart).” —Gretchen Bergill, Director of College Counseling

“We Should All be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
“A quick yet impactful read which is a written extension of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's famous Ted Talk by the same name. Adichie's definition and explanations of feminism in this book and Ted Talk arguably are the root of the cultural paradigm shift that has occurred in the past 5-7 years where feminism, in its 21-century form, is celebrated. Students may quickly recognize some of Adichie's writing and phrases as they are a major aspect of the bridge in Beyoncé's song, ‘Flawless.’ For anyone wanting a better understanding of feminism in its 21-century form—one of inclusion and advocacy—this is a phenomenal place to start.” —Alexa Holmes, Assistant Director of Student Life and Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
“A powerful and heart-wrenching modern classic. Maya Angelou's memoir recounts her childhood as a young Black woman living in the rural south, St. Louis, and San Francisco from the 1930s through the 1940s. Angelou takes her readers into her childhood in a way that poetically illustrates her passion for learning, feelings of abandonment, joys of being a child, and the suffocating bigotry she and her family face as black Americans living in the midst of Jim Crow Laws and rampant racial segregation.” —Holmes

“The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath
“Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’ is the fictional story of Esther Greenwood, an intelligent young woman who spirals into a mental breakdown that lands her in an inpatient mental hospital. Largely based on the real-life experiences of Plath herself, this novel is a notable must-read in the category of Feminist Literature. Plath illustrates the sexual double-standards, powerlessness, and inability to pave one's own path that women face in the American 1950s, and asks of her audience: where does a woman’s ‘madness’ truly stem from?” —Holmes

“Choose To Matter” by Julie Foudy 
“I used this at my last school when I taught a leadership course. This is perfect for high school age girls who want to understand the challenges of leadership and how to overcome the struggle to be someone you're not in an effort to gain acceptance.” —Nan Hambrose, Director of Athletics 

“Wolfpack” by Abby Wambach  
“This is an awesome book for young women. Having overcome so much in her own personal and professional life Abby Wamback provides terrific guideposts to young women who strive to become strong leaders.” —Hambrose

“Ruth Bader Ginsberg: A Life” by Jane Sherron de Hart
“The biography follows the life of R.G.B. as a feminist and a legal trailblazer; researched and detailed, it is her life story as well as a dive into her social and political background. Every woman in America should know, intimately, the life and work of this important woman.” —Kim Nanof, Social Studies Department Chair 

“Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Cheryl Strayed
“This is a book about heartbreak, self-discovery, and finding one's way one step at a time. Inspirational. “A vivid, touching, and ultimately inspiring account of a life unraveling, and of the journey that put it back together.” —Wall Street Journal (suggested by Kim Nanof)

“How to Be a Hepburn in a Kardashian World” by Jordan Christy
“This is a revision from her 2009 book with a similar title. Jordan has gotten really good press everywhere from The Today Show to The London Times. Her book is filled with advice on how to be the most confident version of one's self with grace, without sacrificing one's personal style. This is a fun, light, interesting, and meaningful book for young women. I sometimes give it to my advisees as a graduation gift.” —Nanof

We hope you pick up one (or more!) of these books and would like it, we would LOVE it if you would let us know what you thought. Remember, there’s always a moment to learn about someone different from yourself.