Warrior Queens: True stories of six ancient rebels who slayed history by Vicky Alvear Shecter, illustrated by Bill Mayer

I am a big fan of Shecter's mythology series, Anubis Speaks, Hades Speaks, Thor Speaks and bought this title as soon as I was aware of it. I don't regret it, but it does have some drawbacks.

The book opens with acknowledgements and an introduction to ancient queens and warriors. A brief timeline serves as a table of contents. The women profiled are Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia I of Halicarnassus, Amanirenas of Nubia, the Trung sisters of Vietnam, Boudicca of Britain, and Zenobia of Palmyra (Syria). Shecter looks at their stories in context of their historical time period, references what writers of the day said about them and archaeological evidence that adds to their stories. Each chapter ends with notes, additional historical data, and discussions of current research.

The second spread of each chapter is a full black and white illustration, showing the queen in question and a battle. These all look somewhat similar and their odd placement adds little to the book. There are also black and white photographs of artifacts and locations. The book ends with an epilogue, endnotes, bibliography, with both primary and secondary sources, and an index.

Shecter writes in a brisk, racy style with lots of slang and puns, which can be somewhat distracting, especially when talking about violent war. Some events are toned down; Boudicca's daughters are "attacked" not raped, and the violence of war is rarely given in graphic detail. While this style may date the book, it will also attract younger readers so I don't have a problem with it, except for feeling there were a few too many puns (my staff and I disagree about puns...) However, the layout of the book was the main drawback to my mind. It's somewhat confusing, with the two sets of notes, one at the end of each chapter and one at the end of the book, the art plopped down in the middle of the chapter is odd, and there is at least one typo, on page 29 in note 6.

Verdict: Not a necessary purchase, but there's not much on this topic, especially including Amanirenas and Zenobia. Purchase to supplement your ancient history collection and pair with Shirin Yim Bridges Real Princesses.

ISBN: 9781629796796; Published September 2019 by Boyds Mills Press; Purchased for the library