Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2004 (Vol. 72, No. 3))
Women have served in every war this country has fought. From that first war on, while they cooked and cleaned and nursed, they also worked the guns, dug the trenches, and finessed the enemy. In this splendidly designed and lucid narrative, Nathan uses sidebars about individual women soldiers and medical personnel along with a rich array of photographs to personalize every conflict; chapters include the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, both World Wars, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan and Iraq. She does not flinch from the enormous obstacles put in the path of women who, for a variety of reasons, wanted to serve their country at war, nor from the prejudice and racism they encountered. She is plainspoken about the hardships and horrors, but also about how women worked, studied, learned, and did what needed to be done. Readers will also get a sense not only of how far women have come, but how far military science and medicine have progressed. Alert readers will also see clearly how far women have yet to go to achieve equality in and out of the service. (bibliography, index) 2004, National Geographic, 96p, $21.95. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 9 to 14. © 2004 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Krista Hutley (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April 2004 (Vol. 57, No. 8))
In 1997, the Women In Military Service For America Memorial was dedicated to the women who have volunteered to serve with the armed forces. Nathan tells the stories of some of these women, from Deborah Samson, who had to dress as a man to fight in the American Revolution, to Captain Celia FlorCruz, helicopter pilot in the Persian Gulf War, as she traces the development of women's roles in the armed forces. Nathan's writing is simple enough for young audiences without compromising accuracy or leaving out interesting details; the sidebars focusing on particular women and the well-chosen monochromatic photographs and historical reproductions break the text into readable chunks. The book doesn't shirk from explaining how difficult it has been for women who wanted to serve in the military, nor does it ignore racial issues, though the portrayal of both is focused more on the positive; the author does, however, gloss over the notions of sexual harassment and abuse and the continued limitations on women's jobs. She also occasionally draws connections too strongly between women's roles in the military and in the non-military world (nursing schools opened after "the excellent job nurses did in wartime made doctors realize how much patients could be helped by good nursing care"; the right to vote was a "direct result of the remarkable contributions made by the 34,000 military women and the thousands of civilian women who helped in this war"). Overall, however, this is a well-researched and well-written account of women fighting for their country against all odds and slowly being recognized for it. A list of resources (book, video, and Internet) and an index are included. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2004, National Geographic, 90p, $21.95. Grades 6-10.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2004)
The nine chapters of this book crisply summarize women's contributions to the U.S. military, from the Revolutionary War to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. As photos and primary material gradually become more available, Nathan uses them effectively to help tell the story of women's struggle to serve and be treated equally. The overall tone is positive, and the book offers both an overview and individual vignettes. Bib., ind. Category: Nonfiction-History. 2004, National, 89pp, $21.95. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.