"Girl squads" may be trending, but the concept is nothing new, argues pop-culture writer Sam Maggs (Wonder Women) in the introduction to Girl Squads: 20 Female Friendships That Changed History. She goes on to suggest that inspiration can be drawn "from historical gals who've lifted each other up and do the same in our own lives"--an idea that sets the tone for the stories of female friendship that follow throughout the rest of the book.
The girl squads included here are divided into sections: Athletes, Activists, Warriors, Scientists and Artists. Each section is then broken down into the stories of four different sets of girlfriends whose experiences range across the world (Japan and the United States, Iran and the Dominican Republic) and across time (from roughly 400 BCE to the present day). Some of these women were in direct competition (as in the case of modern-day tennis players Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens) and others worked as a team (as in the story of the Zohra Orchestra, the first all-girl musical ensemble from Afghanistan), but each and every story demonstrates how, across history, the support of women for women has changed many lives in big and small ways.
Maggs does an impressive job of condensing long periods of history into just a few pages, providing necessary historical context for the story of each squad. Despite the immense detail included, however, Girl Squads is anything but academic; Maggs writes with a sly sense of humor and irreverence that keeps the text from ever feeling dry or dull. Instead, this collection is upbeat and positive, itself a "journey of lady solidarity" bound to educate and inspire readers of any gender. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm