The Women’s March on Washington has made history today, with a total of at least 2.9 million people showing up to protest. It is the biggest one-day protest in American history, showing that Americans have no intention of letting the Trump administration agenda continue without one heck of a fight. More people showed up to the protest than Donald Trump’s own inauguration.
Many companies and businesses are showing support for the Women’s Marches, but there is one particular of note: Atria Books, a publishing house, has put up seven eBooks for free in honor of the protests. All of the available authors they have chosen are meant to “inspire and empower women.” They cover a variety of topics and backgrounds, and together, they are a powerful offering.
Atria Books plan on making these books available for the next two days, with a maximum download of 5,000. They were so popular that the download page crashed, and they extended the deadline. Here is a peek at the eBooks they are offering:
1. Things I Should Have Told My Daughter by Pearl Cleage
This memoir explores how Pearl Cleage balanced marriage, being a mother, and being a writer in a time (the ’70s and ’80s) that didn’t support artists. It demonstrates an artist’s struggle to survive, and right now, it’s more relevant than ever.
2. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
“I’m awkward – and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things I could be.” This book recounts the author’s life with a self-deprecating, witty voice as she navigates her identity.
3. Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
Obsessive, tidy, and only slightly controlling, Britt-Marie finds herself alone due to a cheating husband. She is left to raise her children surrounded by chaos: messes, unwanted attentions from a police officer, and an awful roommate. And soon, she must lead a children’s soccer team to victory.
4. La Niña Alemana (The German Girl, Spanish Edition) by Armando Lucas Correa
This Spanish book recounts the experience of Hannah Rosenthal, a 12-year-old girl who is forced to flee from Nazi Germany, with her family and best friend. They are promised sanctuary in Cuba, but it turns out to be merely a facade.
5. The Girl Who Escaped ISIS by Farida Khalaf and Andrea C. Hoffman
This story tells the very real and harrowing story of Farida Khalaf, and how she escaped when her village in northern Iraq was attacked and seized by ISIS. All of the men were killed and the women taken into slavery. Khalaf tells the story in painstaking detail, laying the horror of ISIS bare.
6. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
This memoir reveals Janet Mock’s life, living as a multiracial transexual in poverty. This is ultimately a story about acceptance and identity, and is a vital voice for the LGBTQ movement.
7. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
This is the book that distinguished Isabel Allende’s career. Esteban, a patriarch with intense political ambitions, is diluted only by his gentle wife Clara, who has connections to the spirit world. Meanwhile, his daughter Blanca has a child, Alba, from a forbidden love who would grow up to lead her family and country to a revolutionary future.
Now, more than ever, books like these are needed to remind everyone who they are and what they should stand for. What books have you been turning to lately? What does the Women’s March mean to you?
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Featured image via Slate