
Title: Clarina Nichols: Frontier Crusader for Women's Rights
Author: Diane Eickhoff
Publisher: Quindaro Press
Tour Organizer: TLC Book Tours
Release Date: March 1, 2016
Everyone knows about the "Votes for Women" campaign that led to the 19th Amendment in 1920. Few know just how long the struggle really was. Decades earlier, brave women began breaking the taboo of remaining silent at gatherings that included men. They began signing their names to petitions, flexing political muscle long before they had the vote. They wrote millions of words and published some of the most influential books and journals of their day. No one represents this early struggle -- the small triumphs and discouraging setbacks -- better than Clarina Howard Nichols (1810-1885), the Vermont newspaper publisher whose speeches made a powerful case for equality.
Nichols, herself the victim of a failed marriage, was a magnet to abused and mistreated women and was their advocate at a time when her sex was just beginning to speak up. And when she felt progress wasn't coming soon enough, she moved west, to Bleeding Kansas, where she would make history and show the world that feminism could thrive on the frontier.
Diane Eickhoff, who first wrote Nichols' biography in 2006 as Revolutionary Heart, has reimagined her story for all ages. Booklist declared, "The name Clarina Nichols deserves to be placed next to those of such luminaries as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton," and readers of this inspiring historical biography will heartily agree.
My Review
Before reading Clarina Nichols: Frontier Crusader for Women's Rights, I had never heard of Clarina Nichols. As a librarian and history major, I'm pretty embarrassed to admit this. Thankfully, after reading the book, I know more about her, the women's rights movement, as well as the fight to abolish slavery in Kansas. It includes lots of pictures, maps, and copies of newspaper articles really showcase that time period.
One of the best things about Clarina Nichols is how Eickhoff blends Nichols' life story with historical facts from that time. There is a list in the book that shows what a woman may carry in her suitcase, as well as the cost at that time. There is so much more information in this book that what I would normally expect in juvenile non-fiction. Did you know that "ague", a disease that killed people in the Old West, is actually malaria? It was things like this that really brought the story to life.
If you're looking for a good bit of non-fiction about the history of women's rights, I highly recommend Clarina Nichols: Frontier Crusader for Women's Rights. My daughter will be reading my copy next, and it is definitely something that will be ordered for the library.
Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Diane Eickhoff grew up on a farm in Minnesota, taught school in Appalachia and New York, and helped edit a newspaper for an anti-poverty program in Alabama. She has written widely for publications aimed at high school and younger readers. Her biography, Revolutionary Heart, from which this book is adapted, was named a Kansas Notable Book and the winner of ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year competition in biography, among other honors. She lives with her husband, author Aaron Barnhart, in Kansas City.
Follow the Tour

Clarina Nichols Tour Schedule
Monday, March 21st
Bookish Realm Reviews
Tuesday, March 22nd
Lectus
The Avid Reader
Wednesday, March 23rd
Time 2 Read
Thursday, March 24th
A Bookish Affair
Tuesday, March 29th
Tina Says…
Tuesday, April 5th
Raven Haired Girl
Wednesday, April 6th
I’m Shelf-ish
Thursday, April 7th
Reading is My Super Power
Puddletown Reviews
Tuesday, April 12th
Rambling Reviews
Wednesday, April 20th
Bibliophilia, Please
TBD
Unabridged Chick

I had never heard of her until this book either - and she seems like a woman I should definitely know about.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.