Anyone want to take bets on how many Wonder Women you’ll see trick-or-treating this year? From the movies to the bookshelves to the Halloween streets, Wonder Woman is having a big year. Below are two recent books for different ages.
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. Bardugo’s fans know she writes rich worlds, complex characters, fierce heroines, and amazing action sequences. In this page-turner, she adds a powerful volume to the Wonder Woman legacy. This is not a novelization of this summer’s blockbuster, but it also empowers and delights. Diana and the young woman who compels her to leave Themyscria are determined and strong in a variety of ways, and Bardugo laces the narrative with subtle and overt statements about feminism that make us recognize the Amazon in everywoman.
This is the first in a series of superhero books written by YA authors (Mary Lu will write Batman, Sarah Maas Catwoman, Matt de la Pena Superman), and she has set the bar very high.
Be a Star Wonder Woman by Michael Dahl, illustrated Omar Lozano
Be sure to take a look at this picture book– it’s so much cuter and smarter than I would have thought. Kids will easily see themselves as heroes as the book shows Wonder Woman and the main character side by side. The book highlights everyday superpowers, like sharing and conquering a spelling test. You even get a checklist at the end so you can track your heroic progress!
Don’t forget the book that inspired the new movie, “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore, recommended on our site by Tom Nissley of Phinney Books in 2014.
–Tegan Tigani, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA