To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we’ve curated a reading list that invites booksellers, librarians, book clubs, and readers to “Remember the ladies” as Abigail Adams asked her husband in her famous letter of March 31, 1776.

Our Methodology

It proved to be a difficult job to narrow the list down. We chose thirty one titles–one for each day in July–inspired by the tremendous work of our friend Janis Robinson Daly does every year for Women’s History Month.

We wanted a wide breadth of the American experience to be reflected in our choices. Women from different parts of the country, from different races and socio-economic classes. We wanted different perspectives on the same women or events told by different authors. We wanted some books that focused on the run-up to the war, and some that explored the landscape of the early republic. We wanted classics as well as new books. We wanted both fiction and non-fiction. Adult books and children’s books too.

We also needed these books to be in paper for displays in bookstores and libraries–which meant many amazing titles that were either out of print, in e-book only, or currently difficult for bookstores to order were culled from the list. In short, many factors went into our decision, and while we celebrate these books, we will also be listing some of our favorite “Runners Up” below.

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What To Do With This Reading List

Bookstores & Libraries

This year, perhaps more than any other, it’s important that we understand the full breadth of the revolution and that means including the perspectives of women–half the population then and now. So please download and print our free Remember the Ladies Calendar reading guide to use in any way that serves your community:

• To help build your America250 table displays
• As a summer reading handout
for customers
• To guide your local book clubs
• For a staff recommendation list

• For social media content throughout June and July

• As a companion to your existing Revolutionary War and founding-era displays

In addition, you’ll find customizable social media images in this assets folder; simply upload to canva.com or the graphics program of your choice to add your logo, organization, and any other details you wish! For the book cover graphics, click the bookshop.org link and copy/paste the cover into the new image; we made the first couple to get you started! Of course, you’re welcome to make your own; we wanted to make it as easy for you as possible to join the fun.

If you decide to feature any of these books, we’d love to see your displays and posts. Feel free to share photos using #RememberTheLadies and #America250.

Thank you again for all you do to connect readers with books.

Book Clubs

Please download and print our free Remember the Ladies Calendar reading guide to use for:

• Choosing your club’s next read
• Creating a summer reading challenge
• As a gift guide
• As a July party theme

We truly believe that book clubs are doing some of the hardest and most important work of adult education and community building between women. Both of us enjoy zooming into book clubs when we can to meet all you enthusiastic readers out there. So if you’d like Stephanie to join your group, click here to arrange if her schedule is open. And if you’d like Laura to join your group, click here to arrange if her schedule is open.

Individual Readers & Influencers

Please download and print our free Remember the Ladies Calendar reading guide to use for private or public reading, but also for the chance to win a gorgeous book gift box for yourself or to give to a friend or follower. Just in time for the holiday, we will be choosing three lucky winners who help spread the word! 

The Book List

• Women Heroes of the American Revolution: 20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue — Susan Casey. Chicago Review Press (2015). ISBN 9781613738313. Minute Women / Revolutionary heroines / accessible non-fic
• A Founding Mother — Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie. William Morrow (2026). ISBN 9780063234765. Abigail Adams.
• Woman of Two Worlds: The Life of Cherokee Leader Nancy Ward — Michelle M. Jacob. University of Nebraska Press (2023). ISBN 9781496235626. Nancy Ward / Cherokee woman leader / diplomacy, war
• Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence — Carol Berkin. Vintage (2005). ISBN 9781400075324. Revolutionary women’s experiences across race, class, and political allegiance.
• Martha Washington: An American Life — Patricia Brady. Penguin Books (2005). ISBN 9780143037132. Martha Washington; standalone biography; founding-era.
• Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy — Annette Gordon-Reed. University of Virginia Press (1997). ISBN 9780813918334. Sally Hemings / Jefferson / slavery and historical memory
• The Indigo Girl — Natasha Boyd. Blackstone Publishing (2017). ISBN 9781455137114. Eliza Lucas Pinckney; colonial South Carolina / pre-Revolution; women-centered historical fiction.
• Founding Mothers — Cokie Roberts. William Morrow (2004). ISBN 9780060090265. Landmark work on founding mothers of the United States.
• My Name Is Resolute — Nancy E. Turner. Thomas Dunne Books (2014). ISBN 9781250060976. Colonial America / run-up to Revolution
• The Midwife’s Revolt — Jodi Daynard. Lake Union (2015). ISBN 9781477828007. Book 1 of the Midwife trilogy. Abigail Adams-adjacent, Braintree.
• The Traitor’s Wife — Allison Pataki. Howard / Simon & Schuster (2014). ISBN 9781476738604. Peggy Shippen
• My Dear Hamilton — Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie. William Morrow (2018). ISBN 9780062466167. Eliza Schuyler Hamilton.
• Chains — Laurie Halse Anderson. Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2008). ISBN 9781416905868. Enslaved girl in Revolutionary New York; strong YA.
• Susanna’s Midnight Ride: The Girl Who Won the Revolutionary War — Libby McNamee. BookBaby (2019). ISBN 9781732220201. Susanna Bolling / Lafayette / girl heroine of the American Revolution; youth fiction.
• A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison — James E. Seaver. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9781617202094. Mary Jemison / Seneca captivity narrative / colonial frontier.
• Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin — Jill Lepore. Knopf (2013). ISBN 9780307948830. Jane Franklin Mecom; Benjamin Franklin’s sister; women-centered founding-era biography.
• The Turncoat — Donna Thorland. New American Library (2013). ISBN 9780451415393. Revolutionary War espionage / Loyalist-Patriot romance.
• The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution — Zara Anishanslin. Harvard University Press (2025). ISBN 9780674290235. Patience Wright / women artists / revolutionary Atlantic world.
• The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr — Susan Holloway Scott. Kensington (2019). ISBN 9781496719188. Mary Emmons.
• The Treason of Betsy Ross — Wendy Long Stanley. Wynwidyn Press (2020). ISBN 9781951747060. Betsy Ross / flagmaker / Philadelphia / youth or crossover historical.
• The Girl from Greenwich Street — Lauren Willig. William Morrow (2025). ISBN 9780063294264. Early republic; Elma Sands murder trial; Hamilton and Burr.
• A Resistance History of the United States — Tad Stoermer. Steerforth (2026). ISBN 9781586424367. Through focus on women, enslaved people, and Native Americans.
• The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation — Nancy Rubin Stuart. Beacon Press (2008). ISBN 9780807055175. Mercy Otis Warren; woman writer / satirist / historian.
• Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge — Erica Armstrong Dunbar. Atria / 37 INK (2017). ISBN 9781501126413. Ona Judge / Washington household / slavery and freedom
• Celia Garth — Gwen Bristow. Chicago Review Press edition. ISBN 9781613733166. Classic women-centered Revolutionary War fiction; Charleston / British occupation
• By the Light of Fireflies — Jenni L. Walsh. Wyatt-MacKenzie (2021). ISBN 9781954332133. Sybil Ludington; middle grade fiction.
• Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard — Sally Cabot. William Morrow (2013). ISBN 9780062241931. Deborah Read
• Someone Knows My Name — Lawrence Hill. W. W. Norton (2007). ISBN 9780393333091. Black Loyalist.
• Mrs. Benedict Arnold — Emma Parry. William Morrow (2026). ISBN 9780063419636. Peggy Shippen Arnold
• The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America — John Wood Sweet. Henry Holt and Co. (2022). ISBN 9781250761972. Lanah Sawyer / early republic/ law, sexual violence, and justice.
• America’s First Daughter — Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie. William Morrow (2016). ISBN 9780062347268. Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph / Jefferson’s daughter.

Bonus Books

As we said, it was hard to decide on just 31, so here are a few others that almost made our list!

1. Oney: My Escape From Slavery — Diana Rubino & Piper Huguley. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2018). ISBN 9781976798320. Ona Judge / Martha Washington’s enslaved servant / escape to freedom; women-centered founding-era historical fiction inspired by the true story.
2. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750–1800 — Mary Beth Norton. Cornell University Press (1980). ISBN 9780801483479. Revolutionary experience of American women.
3. The Rebellion of Jane Clarke — Sally Gunning. William Morrow (2010). ISBN 9780061782169. Pre-Revolution Massachusetts
4. A Ride into Morning: The Story of Tempe Wick — Ann Rinaldi. Harcourt (1991). ISBN 9780152046839. YA; Tempe Wick; Revolutionary War heroine / Morristown winter encampment.
5. Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America — Linda K. Kerber. University of North Carolina Press (1980). ISBN 9780807844953. Foundational women’s history / republican motherhood / early republic.
6. The Frozen River — Ariel Lawhon. Doubleday (2023). ISBN 9780385546874. Early republic / 1789 Maine; Martha Ballard; major recent women’s historical fiction and book club title.
7. Poor Richard’s Women — Nancy Rubin Stuart. Beacon Press (2022). ISBN 9780807008126. Deborah Read Franklin + the women around Franklin. Optional nonfiction pairing with the Cabot novel.
8. Into the Wilderness — Sara Donati. Bantam (1998). ISBN 9780553578522. Early republic / post-Revolution frontier
9. Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship — L. M. Elliott. Katherine Tegen Books (2018). ISBN 9780062671301. Peggy Schuyler; Hamilton-adjacent YA
10. Finishing Becca: A Story about Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold — Ann Rinaldi. Harcourt (1994). ISBN 9780152008802. Peggy Shippen / Benedict Arnold; YA; useful companion to The Traitor’s Wife.
11. My Theodosia — Anya Seton. Chicago Review Press (1941). ISBN 9780897334099. Theodosia Burr Alston; daughter of Aaron Burr
12. Sophia’s War — Avi. Beach Lane Books (2012). ISBN 9781442414419. YA; girl spy / occupied New York
13. A Girl Called Samson — Amy Harmon. Lake Union (2023). ISBN 9781542039741. Deborah Sampson, soldier in disguise.
14. Molly Brant: A Legacy of Her Own — Lois M. Huey & Bonnie Pulis. Young Voyageur (2015). ISBN 9780761390824. Molly Brant / Mohawk Loyalist woman / Native diplomacy during the American Revolution; accessible youth nonfiction.
15. The Break: Tales From a Revolution — Nova-Scotia — Lars D. H. Hedbor. Brief Candle Press (2014). ISBN 9780989441087. Susannah Mills / Loyalist perspective / Boston to Nova Scotia / Revolutionary War displacement and divided allegiances.
16. Sally Hemings — Barbara Chase-Riboud. Chicago Review Press (1979). ISBN 9781556529450. Founding-era slavery
17. Give Me Liberty — Ann Rinaldi. Harcourt (2002). ISBN 9780152050775. YA; Patrick Henry’s daughters
18. In Creek Mary’s Blood — Dee Brown. Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1980). ISBN 9780030550614. Native American woman and descendants; broad Indigenous experience

Spread the word!