This book summary highlights the tremendous impact of women who have fought for military equality, not only in the United States, but also in nations such as Afghanistan, Syria, and England. The titles on this list follow female soldiers who strive to earn the same level as their male counterparts, from one of the first women to become a US special ops warrior. uu. during the conflict in afghanistan to an afghan pilot seeking her place in the afghan air force.
Compiled by Emily Arnsberg, Graduate Assistant in the Undergraduate Library and Master’s candidate in the School of Library and Information Sciences. emily is an air force veteran with over nine years of service.
You are reading: Books about women in the military
ashley’s war: the untold story of a team of female soldiers on the special ops battlefield by gayle tzemach lemmon (2015)
lemmon’s work narrates the history of the us. uu. Army Special Operations Command pilot program, called Cultural Support Teams (CSTs), which allowed elite female soldiers the opportunity to fight alongside Green Berets and Army Rangers in Afghanistan. the program, which began in 2010, was the first program to put women in special ops. Ashley’s War is currently being made into a big movie at Universal Studios with Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea producing.
available in print and as an e-book.
Open Skies: My Life as Afghanistan’s First Female Pilot by Niloofar Rahmani and Adam Sikes (2021)
This timely book illustrates another perspective of women in the military, through the eyes of an Afghan woman fighting to serve her country. Rahmani tells the story of her as the first female fixed-wing air force aviator in Afghanistan’s history and the first female pilot in the Afghan air force since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
See Also: 2022-2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Released – Texas Library Association
available as an e-book.
improper: anuradha bhagwati’s memoir of disobedience (2019)
content warning: sexual violence
bhagwati’s memoir offers a distinctive perspective on his service in the marines, addressing various issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual violence, misogyny, and racism, among many others. Born the dutiful daughter of Indian immigrants, Improper tells the story of Bhagwati enlisting in the Navy after graduating from Yale, her subsequent creation of the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), and her final fight for equal rights. gender in the military.
available in print and as an audiobook.
the daughters of kobani: a story of rebellion, courage and justice by gayle tzemach lemmon (2021)
lemmon’s most recent title delves into the conflict in syria and the battle against the islamic state (isis). an all-female protection unit for syrian kurdish female fighters, known as the ypj, quickly became the face of the war against isis, earning a reputation as fierce and effective fighters. Through the stories of four female soldiers, Lemmon paints a picture of their fight against ISIS and their fight for women’s equality in the battle for the city of Kobani. recently, hiddenlight productions opted for this title as a future film adaptation.
See Also: 20 Books To Read If You Want To Get Into Black Sci-Fi And Fantasy
available as an audiobook.
Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Struggle in Afghanistan and on the Home Front by Mary Jennings Hegar (2017)
This title follows Hegar, a National Guard pilot who was shot down while on a search and rescue mission during her third trip to Afghanistan. Despite her injuries, she fought the enemy and saved the lives of her crew and her patients. Similar to Improper, Hegar transitions to civilian life and embarks on a journey to fight for female armed service members in ending the military’s policy of exclusion from ground combat. This title is currently in development with the Gotham Group’s production company as a future book-to-movie title.
available in print and as an audiobook.
code girls: the untold story of the american women who cracked the codes of world war ii by liza mundy (2017)
Recruited to help the military crack the enemy code, more than ten thousand women moved to washington d.c. during World War II to serve as codebreakers. however, a strict vote of secrecy kept his tremendous efforts hidden from the public. After several interviews with the surviving Code Girls, Mundy illustrates the crucial role these brave women played in influencing the battlefield from home, and their role in cracking and creating the complex codes used by the world’s military and intelligence services. .
available in print and as an audiobook.
fight like a girl: the truth behind how female marines are trained by kate germano with kelly kennedy (2018)
This story chronicles Kate Germano’s fight to achieve equal performance and opportunity for female Marines in a male-dominated service. Germano’s timely story has implications not only for the US military, but also for US corporations, education, and government organizations.
available in print and as an e-book.
the warrior code: 11 principles to unleash your inner badass by tee marie hanible and denene millner (2019)
Similar to germano’s story in fight like a girl, retired marine gunnery sergeant tee marie hanible describes her experiences in the marine corps and her deployment to iraq in 2003, along with the 11 principles she learned in the service to help you find your own inner strength.
See Also: 20 Books To Read If You Want To Get Into Black Sci-Fi And Fantasy
available as an audiobook.
close danger: my epic journey as a gunship pilot in iraq and afghanistan by amber smith (2016)
Amber Smith describes her experiences as one of the few women to fly the Army’s Kiowa helicopter and her captivating stories of combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, struggling to earn the respect of her fellow pilots.
See Also: 2022-2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Released – Texas Library Association
available as an e-book.
code name: lise: the true story of the spy who became the most decorated woman of world war ii by larry loftis (2019)
winner of multiple awards (florida book awards silver medalist and women’s day best non-fiction book to read in 2019, among others), code name: lise tells the story of odette sansom, an executive operations agent (SOE) in Great Britain during World War II and his struggle to survive during his mission and subsequent captivity in a German concentration camp.
available in print, as an ebook, and as an audiobook.
I love my rifle more than you: young man and woman in the usa. uu. Army by Kayla Williams with Michael E. staub (2005)
kayla williams illustrates her experiences serving in the military during the conflict in iraq, and her battle for women’s empowerment and her own self-discovery.
available in print.
See Also: Randolph Caldecott Medal | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
beyond the call: three women on the frontlines in afghanistan by eileen rivers (2018)
eileen rivers tells the story of three women during the conflict in afghanistan and their valiant efforts as members of the female engagement military teams (fets), forerunners of the cultural support teams (csts) described in ashley’s war. This story not only shows the combat through the eyes of these three women, but also their battles as they return home and return to civilian life.
available in print.
See Also: Randolph Caldecott Medal | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
training: a woman’s memoir of stepping out of line by ryan leigh dostie (2019)
content warning: sexual violence
dostie’s memoir recounts her recruitment into the army as a linguist, and her subsequent trauma and struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after being raped by a fellow soldier. With commanders not trusting her story, Dostie battles isolation and ostracism from her fellow soldiers to prove her worth in a world where the odds are stacked against her.
available in print.
See Also: Randolph Caldecott Medal | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
soldier girls: three women’s battles at home and at war by helen thorpe (2014)
thorpe’s narrative, spanning 12 years, follows three women from enlisting in the indiana national guard, through deployment, and back home. these three women thought that when they joined the national guard their assistance and work would be minimal, occasionally attending training. In return, they would be given the best opportunities available to improve themselves: attending college, earning a steady salary, and participating in something bigger than themselves. However, after 9/11, these women found themselves in combat zones in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Similar to Ashley’s War, Thorpe illustrates the impact of war and how it changes women, a theme that often focuses on the male perspective.
available in print.
See Also: Randolph Caldecott Medal | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)