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Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Audiobook2 hours

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)

Written by Sue Macy

Narrated by Meredith Orlow

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

A finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award, Sue Macy's Wheels of Change offers young listeners an eye-opening account of how, beginning in the late 19th century, the bicycle helped change the course of women's history. Macy meticulously documents how women used the freedom of their newfound mobility to effect social change even in the face of constant challenges. ''A strong, high-interest choice for both classroom and personal reading- for adults, too.''- Booklist
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 15, 2012
ISBN9781464048715
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Author

Sue Macy

Sue Macy, author of A Whole New Ball Game, is a lifelong baseball fan who has written close to 20 award-winning books about sports and women's history. Her book, Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way), was a finalist for YALSA’s Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award. She lives in Englewood, NJ, and can be reached through her website, suemacy.com.

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Reviews for Wheels of Change

Rating: 4.104838869354839 out of 5 stars
4/5

62 ratings15 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book would be good to use when talking about women's rights. I think students will like it because of how the bicycle is an unsuspecting component to women's rights.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book gives a lot of new and interesting information that I had never even heard of. It links the beginning of women's rights to the freedom the bicycle gave her, along with much more history that children would probably find exciting.Students could create venn diagrams comparing the past and present, use science to describe why the first bicycles did not work as well as today, and involve history in studying the many different ways bicycles fit into the subject.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Bicycle history and first-wave feminism are deftly woven into a five-chapter narrative tracing the impact of the "silent steed" on 19th-century America. The historical tour begins in the 1870s, when Albert Pope imported the bicycle industry from England, and then navigates the social commentary of the 1890s concerning women on bicycles. Next the book delves into the significant fashion changes wrought by this new form of transportation and the daring exploits of the first female competitive cyclists. The concluding chapter situates the bicycle amid the broad social change at the turn of the century. Stops along the way feature women inventors, activists, and athletes, and also highlight the role of bicycles in the pop culture of the era. Fascinating archival images illustrate the text at every turn, and the author carefully attributes each quote and picture in captions and appendices. The intriguing focus of this history may provide a strong draw, but it is the rich detail that will ultimately captivate readers and inspire further exploration in a number of directions.My VOYA ratings: 4Q ("Better than most, marred by occasional lapses") and 4P ("Broad general or genre YA appeal").I love the way this book got me excited about history from so many different angles: bicycle design, transportation infrastructure, fashion, women's suffrage, poster art, and biographies galore! It also inspired me to look at the present world with renewed curiosity and enthusiasm. I can't wait to introduce it to many potential readers.The only disappointing aspect is its somewhat restrictive design. The scrapbook layout works hard to cram as much content as possible into a slim volume of 100 pages and average height, with the result that many background images are compromised. I wish the publisher had let the format expand in height or girth and allowed the rich detail room to breathe.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book for anyone and everyone-as a gender studies major, I adored it! Well written, great format, fascinating facts and stories.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A delightful and engaging look into women's early struggles for equality through the history of the bicycle and its emergence in the late 19th century. Wheels of Change captures the excitement and enthusiasm for cycling pervasive in the late 1800s while poking fun at the rigid conservatism that led to arguments over the appropriate weight of women's "wheeling" undergarments, among other comically true topics. The book is effective in its use of a scrapbook-like style, using images from advertisements, newspaper clippings, photographs, and notable quotes alongside historical descriptions of cycling and its influence on the changing roles of women in society.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a big fan of non-fiction as well as National Geographic (NG), so I was pretty pleased when I found this book. Published by NG, this non-fiction is about the history of the bicycle as it is about the women’s suffrage movement.There are a lot of really neat historic images and photos that add to the written content and display the different types of bikes and women's clothing as both changed over time. Given history, I really shouldn't be surprised that women and children were not allow to ride bikes. It wasn't mere a matter of women's layers and layers of restrictive clothing either, for there was once a "side saddle" bike that had both the pedals on one side so women could maintain a modest position. Yikes. It was interesting to learn how the introduction and adoption of bicycles really played a role in changing women's fashion - resulting in "turkish trousers" and later actual pants for women, not to mention the way that bikes gave women a level of freedom and independence they didn't before have. The health benefits of riding bikes, or regular exercise, along with a great deal of determination and fight on women't part, changed a lot of things for women and the ideas about the roles they were to play in society. I think teens who like non-fiction and like to look back into history and see how things used to be may enjoy this book. about the
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3P 4QFascinating examination on how the invention of the bicycle helped women gain new freedoms. Gorgeous photos and enlightening primary sources reveal just how restricted women's lives were and how the bicycle offered so many escapes. Although the subject matter is compelling, the information seemed rather scattered at and personal reflections were too brief. I was dying for more accounts and criticisms against ladies riding bicycles just to show the triumph of the movement and the amazing benefits it brought to many women across the world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My VOYA ratings: 4Q, 4PThis book provides a very accessible and well laid-out look at a very specific aspect of women's history and women's rights; one that I'd never really considered before: how bikes changed daily life and social mores for women everywhere. I can see teens responding well to this book, especially if used for school research projects. It's easy to read, provides solid historical facts with fun and interesting photos, drawings and quotes and profiles many real women.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was an interesting and compelling book. Lots of little factoids, plenty of delightful photographs of the early pioneer women of bicycling, and enough of a narrative to be engaging throughout. I want to try riding an ordinary after reading this book. But only if I can do it whilst wearing bloomers, of course.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fascinating history that links the rising popularity of bicycles with women's struggle for equality.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    How did the bicycle change women's history? Find out in this readable and visually striking book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sue Macy, a graduate of Princeton University, has written several notable and award-winning books about women for young readers. Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires along the Way) is a work by Sue Macy which documents the history of the bicycle and how this popular mode of transportation brought increasing liberty to women. Macy definitely connects the imagery of the book’s cover with the title of the work. As illustrated on the book’s cover, there is a woman, whose appearance relates to the time of the early twentieth century, riding away from a dark and cloudy scene casted in the far distance. The early twentieth century woman is blowing into some sort of horn device. Almost as if she is signaling her coming or maybe triumph over the dark distance. The pathway seemed rocky and not the ideal path for riding a bicycle. This seems to allude to the reader why there may have been a few flats on the bicycle ride to freedom.As you read through the book, the narrative, for the most part, follows a chronological order. Macy introduces her joy of riding as a young child, and then goes into the history of the creation of the bicycle. From there, the new freedoms, liberties, and accomplishments of women are told as cycling becomes more mainstream and women become more creative and daring with this new technology. The table of contents also alludes to this structure while giving reference to special content features which Macy includes before the beginning of each chapter.The primary content juxtaposing the evolution of the bicycle and women’s social freedoms and accomplishments do not make reading this work boring or incomprehensible. The book is manageable enough to advance ideas or hypotheses about the time period. One hypothesis that was immediately revealed to me also has implications for the content itself. A crucial question arises regarding how the content should be presented or interpreted. Is it that the invention of the bicycle became the causal mechanism which increased liberties of women, or that women took advantage of a new, popular technology as a means to reach beyond their status quo existence? For example, the account of Anne Cohen Kopchovsky can be interpreted as a women meeting the challenge of riding a bike around the world, or a woman of low economic ability using the bicycle as a means to gain notoriety and money (pg. 67-69). Each conclusion gives support to the advancement of women, but by dissimilar means. On the other hand, the targeted young audience will find that the writing style of Macy is impactful while providing for a smooth and easy read. Although the easy reading style and informative content are the strengths of the work, some format items do attract the reader more than the very small print of the text. It is my opinion that giving some format items more emphasis than the text was done deliberately.Despite the setting and imagery of the women casted in the early twentieth century, the book has the feel and appeal of a popular magazine and it immediately would grab any reader’s attention. I don’t think such a feature takes away from the quality of the work; although, I am not quite sure if this is to make the book more visually appealing to the female gender in particular, or an audience of young readers in general. Nonetheless, the magazine-like appeal is attractive. And similar to a magazine, the text of the book seems to be secondary to the aluminous and eye catching features of the book’s photography and sidebar information. The constant use of colorful wheel patterns and color edging for black and white photos gives life, energy, and a modern appeal to all pages of the book. It is as if Sue Macy is using the bright hues and lively designs to give the book a pop culture appearance. An attempt by Macy to connect current pop culture imagery and vibe to the pop culture of the times when bicycles first became mainstreams becomes very obvious in one of her features entitled Cycling Slang (pg. 40). In this section, being young, talking cool, and “on-the-go” is reverberated throughout all eras.As a teaching tool, this book would be great in to include in the curriculum of science and social studies content areas. The correlation between the expansion of rights/ liberties and the introduction of new technologies is becoming ever more relevant (i.e., Arab Spring and the advance of social media and technology).
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was the second book I read for the 2012 YALSA Best of the Best Reading Challenge. Last year our library system’s Youth Services staff had a Mock Sibert Award program and this book was one of the nominees. I never had the chance to read it at the time because there were not enough copies in the system for everyone. I am glad I took the time to go back and read it now. I had never really thought about how something as simple as the development of the bicycle could have a big impact on our culture. Susan B. Anthony said about bicycling that “I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” (in “Champion of Her Sex,” by Nellie Bly, New York World, Feb. 2, 1896 as quote in Wheels of Change.) Well-written and entertaining, definitely worth reading!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The author tells of how the growing popularity of the bicycle in the 1800s led to changes not only in women's clothing, but in their expectations and status.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I bet you would never guess that something as simple as the invention of the bicycle could play such a significant role in the lives of women, but it did. Macy shares a spectacular journey of the bicycle and its roll in moving the fight for the rights of women to the fore front. Macy introduces readers to pedaling pantaloon wearing women and their passion for the right to ride. This awesome collection displays photos from the era, articles and advertisements of the ever-changing times. Innovative women like Kate Parke who invented the first bike lock, Alice A. Bennitt who invented a bike canopy, Mary F Henderson who invented the bike saddle. So many women were becoming more liberated from this great invention. The 1800's was a time for women to start showing they could be active in the community by supporting each other, taking care of their homes and turning their hobbies into an income. Macy thrusts readers into the world of men and how women plunged right through it holding their own. Celebrities in their own right include Belva Lockwood, the first women to appear on the official ballot as a candidate for U.S. President, Katherine Wright an avid cyclist, whose brothers were Orville and Wilbur Wright, Annie Oakley rode a bike and so did Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie. New clothing designs were popping up in shops and magazines everywhere, enticing women to ride in comfort. Women of all colors, shapes and sizes were expressing themselves and becoming more and more liberated each day. I highly recommend this exciting memorabilia filled book for readers of all ages. The back of the book showcases a history of women from 1770 to 1920. Educational and fun this is a great resource for parents and teachers.