BooksforTopics Reading for Pleasure Recommendations

Book Title: Make More Noise!

Author: Various

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Publication Date: Feb 2018

Suitable For: Years 5-6

“You have to make more noise than anyone else,” declared Emmeline Pankhurst, who lead the British suffragette movement.

‘Make More Noise!’ is a book created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first women in the UK gaining the right to vote, with £1 from each sale being donated to the charity Camfed to support women’s education in places where girls have been marginalised.

‘Make More Noise!’ is a collection of short stories written by well-known female authors, including Emma Carroll (author of Letters From the Lighthouse), M.G. Leonard (author of the Beetle Boy books) and Kiran Millwood Hargrave (author of The Girl of Ink and Stars), among other celebrated writers. The stories each feature

the strong voice of a female character, some fictitious and others based on real people.

Sofia from M.G. Leonard’s story ‘The Bug Hunters’, for example, is a girl whose interest in bugs and studying nature makes her an easy target for bullies as she learns to combat prejudice and stand up for who she wants to be. Katherine Woodfine then transports us to another era in her story ‘Tea and Jam’ to meet Eveline, a suffragette’s maid who feels the sting of her own unequal treatment in contrast to the messages of the suffrage campaigns. In a complete shift of genre, Kiran Millwood Hargrave then introduces us to Alba in the fantasy story ‘The Green-Hearted Girl’. Alba demonstrates the way in which one girl’s bravery can bring about positive societal change.

Each of the authors have put their own enjoyable stamp and style on the unified theme. What is remarkable is not just the strength of the female voices singing out from each story, but the way in which the voices of the collection come together to create a chorus of girls, from across time and space, singing beautifully in a bid to ‘make more noise’ and celebrate the equality that the #VotesForWomen campaign represents.

This is suitable for boys and girls in upper kS2 and a worthy addition to every school library.

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