Includes index.

EARLY INSPIRATIONS: First inspirations -- Harriet Tubman -- Anna Pavlova -- Isadora Duncan -- Margaret Chase Smith -- Margaret Bourke-White -- Maria von Trapp -- Anne Frank -- Rigoberta Menchu Tum -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith Joyner ("Flo-Jo") -- EDUCATION PIONEERS: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz -- Margaret Bancroft -- Juliette Gordon Low -- Maria Montessori and Joan Ganz Cooney -- Mary McLeod Bethune -- Esther Martinez -- Daisy Bates -- Patsy Mink, Bernice Sandler, and Edith Green -- Ruby Bridges Hall -- Malala Yousafzai -- EARTH DEFENDERS: Marjory Stoneman Douglas -- Rachel Carson -- Jane Jacobs and Peggy Shepard -- Jane Goodall and "The Trimates" -- Wangari Maathai -- Alice Min Soo Chun -- Greta Thunberg -- EXPLORERS AND INVENTORS: Caroline Herschel and Vera Rubin -- Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper -- Margaret Knight and Madam C.J. Walker -- Marie Curie and Iréne Jolior-Curie -- Hedy Lamarr -- Sylvia Earle -- Sally Ride -- Mae Jemison -- HEALERS: Florence Nightingale -- Clara Barton -- Elizabeth Blackwell, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, and Mary Edwards Walker -- Betty Ford -- Mathilde Krim -- Dr. Gao Yaojie -- Dr. Hawa Abdi -- Flossie Wong-Staal -- Molly Melching -- Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha -- Caccinators -- ATHLETES: Alice Coachman and Wilma Rudolph -- Junko Tabei -- Billie Jean King -- Diana Nyad -- Abby Wambach -- Michelle Kwan -- Venus and Serena Williams -- Ibtihaj Muhammad -- Tatyana McFadden -- Caster Semenya -- Aly Raisman -- ADVOCATES AND ACTIVISTS: Dorothy Height and Sojourner Truth -- Ida B. Wells -- Eleanor Roosevelt -- Elizabeth Peratrovich -- Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin -- Coretta Scott King -- Dolores Huerta -- The Peacemakers -- Victoria Mxenge -- Ai-jen Poo -- Sarah Brady, Gabby Giffords, Nelba Marquez-Greene, Shannon Watts, and Lucy McBath -- Nza-Ari Khepra, Emma Gonzalez, Naomi Wadler, Edna Chavez, Jazmine Wildcat, and Julia Spoor -- Becca Heller -- STORYTELLERS: Maya Angelou -- Mary Beard -- Jineth Bedoya Lima -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie -- America Ferrera -- Ali Stoker -- Amani Al-Khatahtbeh -- ELECTED LEADERS: Bella Abzug -- Shirley Chisholm -- Ann Richards -- Geraldine Ferraro -- Barbara Jordan -- Barbara Mikulski -- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -- Wilma Mankiller -- Michelle Bachelet -- Danica Roem -- GROUNDBREAKERS: Frances Perkins -- Katharine Graham -- Constance Baker Motley -- Edie Windsor -- Ela Bhatt -- Temple Grandin -- Ellen DeGeneres -- Maya Lin -- Sally Yates -- Kimberly Bryant and Reshma Saujani -- WOMEN'S RIGHTS CHAMPIONS: Rosa May Billinghurst -- The Suffragists -- Sophia Duleep Singh -- Fraidy Reiss -- Manal al Sharif -- Nadia Murad.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired them--women with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. Ensuring the rights and opportunities of women and girls remains a big piece of the unfinished business of the twenty-first century. While there's a lot of work to do, we know that throughout history and around the globe women have overcome the toughest resistance imaginable to win victories that have made progress possible for all of us. That is the achievement of each of the women in this book. So how did they do it? The answers are as unique as the women themselves. Civil rights activist Dorothy Height, LGBTQ trailblazer Edie Windsor, and swimmer Diana Nyad kept pushing forward, no matter what. Writers like Rachel Carson and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie named something no one had dared talk about before. Historian Mary Beard used wit to open doors that were once closed, and Wangari Maathai, who sparked a movement to plant trees, understood the power of role modeling. Harriet Tubman and Malala Yousafzai looked fear in the face and persevered. Nearly every single one of these women was fiercely optimistic--they had faith that their actions could make a difference. And they were right. To us, they are all gutsy women--leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. So in the moments when the long haul seems awfully long, we hope you will draw strength from these stories. We do. Because if history shows one thing, it's that the world needs gutsy women.