The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults from ages 12-18.
Wheels of Change: How Women rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Author: Sue Macy
Publisher: National Geographic Children’s Books
Reading Level: Ages 10 and up
“Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way),” was not the winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction but it was selected as a finalist.
Who would have ever thought that bicycles had so much impact in a woman’s life? Or that something that most people use for exercise or to get to places, or even as a toy for children could have given women so much freedom? I know I never thought about it. I always just took the bicycle for granted as something I could use when I didn’t feel like driving, but wanted to go somewhere while getting some exercise. I never stopped to truly think of my bicycle’s history and what it has contributed in this world. This book tells us all about the bicycle and how it in some way liberated women. Before reading this book I flipped through some pages and saw many pictures as well as text and a timeline. This book to me seemed organized the way a scrapbook would. It looks like it will be a very interesting read. The author includes a forward from Leah Missbach Day, where she talks about a program she started called the World Bicycle Relief (WBR). WBR works to provide access to independence and livelihood through the power of bicycles. In this book Macy mentions how women today are still being impacted by bicycles, especially in Zambia. After reading this book, I learned more about the history of bicycles than I ever thought I would learn. Within this book, you’ll learn many things including celebrity cyclists of the day, cycling slang, cycling songs, cycling medical terms, as well as see how bicycles have changed over the years, and the many different types of bikes there have been. The reader will gain a wonderful insight as to how it was for a woman to ride to freedom on the bicycles.
