Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead

Monicagate? Wall Street ties? Private email controversy? Young viewers will find none of those mentioned in this biographical profile of current presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton—an iconographic-animated adaptation of the 2016 picture book written by Michelle Markel and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. But let's not throw the former First Lady out with the Whitewater (rim shot). Narrated by Lesa Lockford, this inspirational girl-power portrait notes that Hillary Rodham grew up in the 1950s in a “man's world.” As a teenager, Hillary attended a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.; she later graduated from Wellesley College, earned a degree from Yale Law School, and married future Arkansas governor and U.S. President Bill Clinton. As a First Lady and mother to young Chelsea, Hillary was part of a “new breed, a Superwoman.” Because Hillary took a much more active role in politics than was characteristic of a First Lady, she met resistance, particularly over her role in promoting universal healthcare (she had to wear a bulletproof vest on speaking tours). Clinton went on to make history as a senator from New York (“no First Lady had ever done such a thing”), before mounting a failed bid for the presidency in 2008, and then taking a position as Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Adults may have differing opinions about Hillary Clinton, but no one can deny her very real achievements as a woman who has broken more than one glass ceiling. Extras include a detailed, narrated timeline of Clinton's life and career to date. An inspiring true-life female empowerment biography for kids, this is highly recommended. Aud: E, P. (R. Pitman)