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Catherine Gourley

Born: 1950 in Wilkes-Barre, PA
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Cathy lived in Chicago where she published her first book, ''The Courtship of Joanna''. While in Chicago, Gourley worked at Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois.

Biography: Catherine is an award-winning author of adult and children's books, editor of books and magazines as well as a curriculum advisor. Gourley's adult books are non-fication and many highlight the history of women's issues through the the 20th Century. She was a former ''Weekly Reader'' editor and has also written three books that are part of the hugely popular American Girl nonfiction series - ''Welcome to Felicity's World'', ''Welcome to Samantha's World'' and ''Welcome to Molly's World''. Cathy is the curiculum advisor and national coordinator of ''Letters About Literature'', a national reading and writing promotion sponsored by State Centers for the Book and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target. Gourley is also the curriculum advisor for the ''The Story of Movies''. A nationwide educational project created by The Film Foundation. The programs is geared toward middle school students and exposes them to classic cinema and teaches them about the social, historical and cultural significance of film in a read-the-book, watch-the-movie approach to teaching film and visual literacy.


Awards:
  • -- ''The Courtship of Joanna'' was nominated for the Carl Sandburg Award through the Chicago Public Library and was a finalist for the Jefferson Cup for excellence in historical fiction.
  • -- ''Wheels of Time

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers; Children; Children; Young adult readers

Email: cgourley@epix.net
Website: http://www.catherinegourley.com/
Catherine Gourley on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=catherine+gourley


Selected Titles

Beryl Markham :
ISBN: 1573240737 OCLC: 35657949

Describes the life of the first person, man or woman, to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, from her childhood in Africa through many difficulties to her aeronautic and literary achievements.

Flappers and the new American woman :
ISBN: 9780822560609 OCLC: 71243984

Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, MN : ©2008.

After the end of World War I in 1918, the Flapper shocked society by flagrantly defying the traditional passive and gentile image of femininity. She danced the Charleston, with bared knees, bobbed hair--and without a corset! The New American Woman also danced--though to a more sedate tune. She represented Mrs. Consumer, more aware of her decision-making ability and her purchasing power than her mother had ever been. And she was, for the first time ever, a fully enfranchised citizen who cast her vote in the polling booth. The media of the times influenced women's paths: magazine advertisements showed them how to dress and how to look younger to please their husbands; books advised them on proper etiquette and how to be truly beautiful; and movies offered entree to exotic new worlds. Many, however, looked beyond the stereotypes, using their new-found power and abilities to fight for a variety of causes.--From publisher description.

Gibson girls and suffragists :
ISBN: 9780822571506 OCLC: 80358484

Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, MN : ©2008.

From the turn of the twentieth century through the end of World War I, the Gibson Girl and the suffragist were icons of American womanhood. Gibson Girls were flirtatious and feisty. They drove motor cars and donned bloomers to play a new game called basketball. Some were ladies of polite society, while others were immigrants who did their best to be fashionable on their paltry earnings. The Suffragists, on the other hand, were more concerned with social justice than fashion. They fought for the right to vote for all American women, demanded safer work conditions and better wages for working women, and called for better living conditions for impoverished families. Magazines, sheet music, and celebrities idealized femininity and fashion; while the Gibson Girls paid attention, the Suffragists were busy marching into the world to make changes.--From publisher description.

Gidgets and women warriors :
ISBN: 0822568055 OCLC: 74987779

Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, MN : ©2008.

During the 1950s and 1960s, popular media was doing everything possible to undo the strong, work-oriented Rosie the Riveter image of the 1940s and bring women back into the domestic fold. The young, blonde Gidget image offered young girls a role model for carefree living before they settled down to fulfill their patriotic duty as wives and mothers. Yet many women weren't buying the images that advised them on how to catch husbands and become dutiful wives and mothers. Instead, they pursued the Woman Warrior persona to emerge as astronauts, peace activists, and women who challenged bigotry and racism.--From publisher description.

Good girl work :
ISBN: 0761309519 OCLC: 45729666

Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Conn. : ©1999.

Discusses the girls and women in the industrial workforce of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the reforms and movements that changed their working conditions and the nature of the work itself.

Hunting Neptune's giants :
ISBN: 1562945343 OCLC: 31654630

Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Conn. : ©1995.

An account of American whaling using excerpts from diaries, ships' logs, letters, and other documents written by men and women who participated in the industry during the 19th century.

Island in the creek :
ISBN: 0920080944 OCLC: 17326187

Harbour Pub., Madeira Park, B.C. : 1988.

Media wizards :
ISBN: 0761309675 OCLC: 45728675

Twenty-First Century Press, Brookfield, Conn. : ©1999.

Explores the various tools advertisers, broadcasters, and others involved in the media use to impart messages to the public, describing both historical and contemporary media events and phenomena.

Ms. and the material girls :
ISBN: 0822568063 OCLC: 76967167

Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, MN : ©2008.

Who were the women who called themselves "Ms." and who were the Material Girls? They weren't specific individuals, but rather symbols that defined perceptions of women during the 1970s through the 1990s. The term Ms. was adopted by feminists--women who believed in equal pay for equal work, freedom from sexual harassment, and equal employment opportunities. The Material Girls wanted all this, but they also wanted to be wild, sexy, and outrageously fashionable--a modern version of the flappers of the 1920s. And they wanted control over their own lives--the kind of control that could only be achieved through money and power. Ms. and the Material Girls walked different paths but together brought about major changes for women. Media provided great influence: magazines, television, and movies stressed women's liberation while still promoting femininity and fashions; rock music mocked society's materialistic ways; and newscasts showed women speaking out and taking control.--From publisher description.

Rosie and Mrs. America :
ISBN: 0822568047 OCLC: 71243985

Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, MN : ©2008.

The jubilance of the Roaring Twenties was silenced by the stock market crash of 1929. Now the Great Depression challenged women in their homes, as Mrs. America had to learn how to "make do" with less. And as men left for battle fronts, World War II propelled women to take their place in factories, becoming Rosie the Riveter. As girls and women of the 1930s and 1940s searched for their own identities, the media of the times tried to influence their paths. Magazine advertisements and mail-order catalogs showed women how to be both fashionable and frugal. Screwball comedies on the movie screen and the romantic soap operas on the radio portrayed women who took life lightly. But many women ignored these stereotypes and forged paths that women had never pursued before, in careers as pilots, foreign correspondents, musicians, and social activists.--From publisher description.

  Sharks! :
ISBN: 0761300015 OCLC: 33361340

Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Conn. : ©1996.

A collection of facts and stories, both historical and traditional, about sharks, their behavior, and their interaction with people.

Society's sisters :
ISBN: 0761328653 OCLC: 51613739

Twenty-First Century Books, Brookfield, Conn. : ©2003.

Profiles nineteenth-century women who overcame the disadvantage of being female in order to change the society in which they lived, by promoting temperance, child labor laws, health care, and other causes.

The courtship of Joanna
ISBN: 155597113X OCLC: 18682595

Graywolf Press, St. Paul, Minn. : 1988, ©1989.

The horrors of Andersonville :
ISBN: 0761342125 OCLC: 267052845

Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis : ©2010.

This fact-based book documents Andersonville, a Civil War prison camp in Georgia, where thousands of Union prisoners died in the last fourteen months of the war. The text contains profanity and graphic descriptions of violence.

War, women, and the news :
ISBN: 0689877528 OCLC: 61169648

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York : ©2007.

The personal stories of women journalists who fought to be allowed to cover World War II.

Welcome to Felicity's world, 1774 /
ISBN: 1562477684 OCLC: 40218759

Pleasant Co. Publications, Middleton, WI : ©1999.

Provides an in-depth look at daily life and historical events in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War, including home life, work, medicine, and play.

Welcome to Molly's world, 1944 :
ISBN: 1562477730 OCLC: 41238511

Pleasant Co. Publications, Middleton, WI : ©1999.

Provides an in-depth look at life and historical events in America during World War Two.

Welcome to Samantha's world, 1904 :
ISBN: 1562477722 OCLC: 41156404

Pleasant Co. Publications, Middleton, WI : ©1999.

An in-depth look at life for girls and women in America in 1904, discussing city and town life, social reform, new inventions, amusements, and more.

Wheels of time :
ISBN: 076130214X OCLC: 44964740

Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Conn. : ©1997.

A biography of the engineer and industrialist whose innovative methods enabled his company to build and mass-produce reliable and inexpensive automobiles and whose latter years were devoted to establishing a museum reflecting American life before the advent of machines.

Who is Maria Tallchief? /
ISBN: 0448426757 OCLC: 49519285

Grosset & Dunlap, New York : ©2002.

A biography of the Osage Indian ballerina whose love of dance took her from a life on a reservation to a career on the stage.

 

 

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