Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Homefront in World War II

Penny Colman is the author of ten children’s and young adult books, among them Rosie the Riveter and Girls: A History of Growing Up Female in America.

Colman (A Woman Unafraid: The Achievements of Frances Perkins) here turns her attention to the forced entry of approximately 6.2 million women into the labor force during WWII. While the text is less than polished, the author does a good job of explaining the events surrounding the war and the economic conditions that temporarily produced a female-dominated work force. Incorporating many first-hand accounts, she evenly explores the resistance, both internal and external, that many women had to overcome in taking on traditionally male jobs. Most interesting is a discussion detailing the highly organized government campaign that sought first to make the notion of women in the workplace seem both acceptable and patriotic, but later, at the end of the war, strove to erase that image as men returned to claim their jobs. Unfortunately, Colman does not take her investigation very far-she fails to measure the effects of this vital period on industry, on politics and, particularly, on the lives of American women. Numerous well-captioned period photographs depict a range of "Rosie"s (including some women of color), and examples of propaganda posters are especially illuminating. Ages 9-up. A Junior Library Guild Selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.