Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (Drama)

With some exception, Hollywood pretty much makes two distinct kinds of biopics. The first kind are the ones that almost seem obligatory –  movies about historical giants who did truly incredible things with their lives, incredible things that should be projected on the silver screen for the world to see. 

Then there are the ones about the others – your oddballs, your misfits – the characters that history books often ignore but are nevertheless important in the way our world is shaped. Professor Marston is certainly one of the latter folk. Outside of DC comic devotees and polygraph historians, William Moulton Marston is not a name people know. Marston is the creator of Wonder Woman, the most famous female comic-book hero ever, but did you ever wonder (pun intended) how she was thought up?

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is a biopic unlike any I've seen in recent memory, intriguing, sexy and a unique story about what it means to love.  In the 1920's Marston and his wife Elizabeth work in the psychology department at Tuft's University where they meet undergraduate Olive Byrne, hired on to be Marston's research assistant.  The attraction between the three is like a lightning bolt and they soon strike up a polyamorous relationship.  But this is the 1920's, and they are shunned from academic society for their love. 


We follow Byrne and the Marston's through the years as they struggle to have a functional family unit all while keeping their arrangement secret from the world.  Marston uses these two strong women in his life as inspiration to create Wonder Woman (arguably one of the most recognizable superheroes of all time).

What stands out for me in this film is a story about three people trying to be in a loving relationship with one another in a world that's still not really ready for what is going on here. So, it was a romance film done differently, under a mask of  the drama and the biography( How very Superhero-like of them).

Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog.

She Persisted: 13 American Women who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton

Just in time for Women's History Month comes Chelsea Clinton's "She Persisted", a picture book which features 13 amazing American women who dreamed big, reached for the stars and cemented their place in history.  The women featured in this book belong to all races, creeds and professions and have done some truly inspirational things.  

Against all the odds, women like Harriet Tubman, Clara Lemlich, Virginia Agpar and Claudette Colvin never took no for an answer and are now celebrated as trailblazers who all are equally deserving to grace these pages.  The illustrations by Alexandra Boiger are beautiful and poignant as well and will keep even hold the pickiest reader's attention. 

This isn't just a book for girls, but for everyone who ever had a dream.  To open doors, children need to know there are others who have opened doors and we can now step through. 


Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Three Black Witches are born in a glen,
sweet little triplets
will never be friends.

Three Black Witches, all fair to be seen
two to devour
and one to be queen

So begins the wonderful YA book “Three Dark Crowns” by Kendare Blake.  And with an intro like that, who wouldn’t want to keep on reading?  The whole story is just so delightfully creepy, intense, and yet somehow super emotional. The story starts with during the Ascension Year, when the three sisters will display their powers and then have exactly one year to kill the others for the crown.

Our three dark queens are:

Katharine the poisoner, but her gift is seemingly weak. She doesn't have the ability to survive any poison like she should, so she's been steadily poisoned throughout her life in order to build an immunity.  The last three queens of her land have all been poisoners so she feels a steady pressure to uphold that legacy at all costs.

Mirabella is an elemental, meaning she can control the elements.  She is by far the strongest of the three sisters and many have been touting her as the next queen.  However, she is by far the most soft hearted of the sisters.  She mourns the loss of her sisters at a young age, but does she have what it takes to ascend to the crown?

Arsinoe is a naturalist whose gift is pretty much nonexistent.  She is supposed to be able to control what happens in nature (harvests, animals, plants etc.) but struggles to find her way and is constantly frustrated by her lack of a gift.  Is she a lamb to the slaughter, or is there more to her than meets the eye?

It’s impossible not to get engrossed in this lush, vivid story.  You think you know which queen you will side with, however, you have no idea.  Happy reading!

Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to find in the catalog.