Ms. Gloria Steinem

Throughout the years, Gloria Steinem is perhaps the single-most iconic figure associated with women's rights, her name practically synonymous with the word "feminism."

Documenting everything from her boundary-pushing journalistic career to the foundation of Ms. magazine to being awarded the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom, Winifred Conkling's Ms. Gloria Steinem: A Life is a meticulously researched YA biography that is sure to satisfy even the most voracious of aspiring glass-ceiling smashers.

Gloria Steinem was no stranger to injustice even from a young age.

Her mother, Ruth, having suffered a nervous breakdown at only 34, spent much of Gloria's childhood in and out of mental health facilities. And when Gloria was only 10 years old, her father divorced her mother and left for California, unable to bear the stress of caring for Ruth any longer.

Gloria never blamed her mother for being unable to hold down a job to support them both after that, but rather blamed society's intrinsic hostility toward women, and working women in particular. This was the spark that lit a fire in her that would burn for decades, and continues to burn brightly today.

About the Author

Winifred Conkling is a freelance writer specializing in history and health and consumer topics. Her articles have appeared in a number of national magazines including American Health, McCall's, Consumer Reports, and Reader's Digest. Winifred lives in northern Virginia with her husband. She is the author of more than thirty nonfiction books, including Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson's Flight from Slavery; Radioactive!: How Irène Curie & Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World; and Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot.