Our Lives — John Connolly

A series of stories that provide a picture of struggle and strength in many different societies. What makes history live? Stories about individuals who take us to places we have not been. Learning about the lives of girls and women over a lengthy period of time will stimulate discussion about those lives as well as their counterparts today. Each life lived has a story we can learn from. In Our Lives: Girls' and Women's Stories Across Two Millennia, editor John Connolly offers ten short fiction stories penned by young writers that provide pictures of the struggle and strength of girls and women in many different societies. These stories may take us to unfamiliar places, as the girls' and women's images come to life through original sketches. "Hoski" tells the story of a young Navajo girl living in the period around 1400 in what is now the United States; it explores her relationship with her grandmother and explains why she needs to be strong. "Gaia Valeria" introduces Gaia, a fifteen-year-old from a wealthy family living in Pompeii during the Roman Empire, and compares her life with that of her slave. "The Diary of Zhang Lihua" shares excerpts from the diary of a young woman living in northern China near the end of the sixth century as she describes her family and political changes taking place at that time. Making history come alive, Our Lives is intended to stimulate discussion about the lives of girls and women and their struggles and triumphs of yesteryear and what it means to today's society.