Make More Noise!: New Stories in Honour of the 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage

by Emma Carroll, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Catherine Johnson

Each story, written by a star-studded list of contributors, including well-known, award-winning and new voices in children’s literature, celebrates strong female characters, with subjects ranging from the ’43 Group to modern ghost stories.

A donation of £1 from the sale of each copy will be given to Camfed, an international charity which tackles poverty and inequality by supporting women’s education in the developing world. The book will be published in time for the centenary anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which was given Royal Assent on 6th February 1918, extending the franchise to women for the first time.

Author Kiran Millwood Hargrave, comments: “I’m honoured to be contributing to an anthology that celebrates girls in all their complexity and world-changing power: we need to hear and tell their stories.”

Genres: Short Stories, Feminism, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Historical, Anthologies

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2018

About the author

After years of teaching English to secondary school students, Emma now writes full time. She graduated with distinction from Bath Spa University’s MA in Writing For Young People. In another life Emma wishes she’d written ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier. She lives in the Somerset hills with her husband and three terriers.

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make More Noise is a brilliant collection of short stories of girls standing up for themselves and generally being awesome. The list of contributors is a stellar line up and I thoroughly enjoyed every inspiring story.

My favourite story in the book was focused on the suffragette cenus boycott of 1911 by Sally Nichols which I really loved because it was a snippet of history I'd not really ever heard about before. I also loved Emma Carroll's World War Two story focusing on land girls and Katherine Woodfine's story looking at the inequality within Edwardian society for young girls in service. I also found Catherine Johnson's story about the 43 group particularly fascinating.

This is one of those books I will be recommending for a long while to come and a go to when I want to buy a present to inspire a young women that girls are awesome.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this collection of short stories, especially the ones by Sally Nicholls, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, and Catherine Johnson. They were all good though - some set in the past, some in modern day, a ghost story and a fantasy tale. Well worth reading and inspirational for girls young and old!

[Sigourney · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else, in fact you have to be there all the time and see that they do not snow you under.” – Emmeline Pankhurst

Make More Noise! has been published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage – when some women were finally able to vote in Britain. The stories have been written by established and new voices within children’s literature, and they all celebrate strong, inspiring female characters throughout the ages, both fictional and real. As well as celebrating women’s suffrage, and the continuing battle for worldwide equality, £1 from the sale of every book goes directly to Camfed, which tackles poverty and inequality by supporting women’s education in developing countries.

“Women everywhere are fighting this. We’re coming together, and we’re kicking, and we’re shouting, and we’re marching, and we’re speaking, and we won’t be silenced. And we will win.” – Out for the Count

Out for the Count by Sally Nichols – 5/5 stars. 2nd April 1911, the census. Women all over the country walked out of their houses and refused to be counted for the census if they wouldn’t be counted for the vote. An excellent insight into what was happening during 1911, what the suffragettes were fighting for, and the horrendous inequality of the time.

“And I think if we want to discover the secrets of life and make something important, we shouldn’t have to listen to people that tell us what we are supposed or not supposed to do.” – The Bug Hunters

The Bug Hunters by M.G. Leonard – 5/5 stars. Oh, I loved this. Sofia, who loves bugs and nature, has to move and attend a new school, where the other children promptly mock her for her love of bugs. The children are really cruel, and it saddens me that children can be that horrible and judgemental, even at eleven. Beatrice, however, shows Sofia kindness despite being labelled as the ‘weird kid’, and I was practically tearing up when Bea got up to do Show and Tell about Maria Merian.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by Patrice Lawrence – 4.5/5 stars. Such a harrowing and hopeful story about the plight of working and living conditions of girls and women in the Victorian era, and the exposure Olive Malvery gave them.

The Green-Hearted Girl by Kiran Millwood Hargrave – 4.5/5 stars. A broken-hearted weather witch, a sea of tears, tree people, a green-hearted girl. A wonderful myth-like story about overcoming differences.

“If you want things to change, you’ve got to speak up. You have to fight for what you want.” – Tea and Jam

Tea and Jam by Katherine Woodfine – 4.5/5 stars. Another suffrage-era story, with Eveline, a young maid, having her eyes opened to the suffragette movement and the different ways that equality can be fought for.

“I may not reflect the old-fashioned notion of feminine beauty, but why should there be only one kind?” – On Your Bike (perhaps not such a strange or radical notion in 2018, but in 1894? Annie was making waves and smashing those glass ceilings).

On Your Bike by Jeanne Willis – 4.5/5 stars. Annie Londonderry became the first woman to cycle around the world, proving most of the world wrong after two wealthy men made a wager that a woman would never be able to do it. A truly inspiring story.

The Tuesday Afternoon Ghost by Ella Risbridger – 4.5/5 stars. Maybe a ghost story, maybe not, this is all about the power of stories and how they’re told and believed.

The Otter Path by Emma Carroll – 5/5 stars. A lovely war-time story about not assuming you know everything about someone, and realising that there’s often something going on beneath the surface. Plus, otters!

The Race by Ally Kennen – 4.5/5 stars. A young girl staying on a farm with five rambunctious male cousins and her eccentric aunt and uncle who starts off whiney and quiet? I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did, but then it turned into this wonderful tale of Faith finding herself and being true to who she really is. So heart-warming and inspiring.

“Honestly, all these people sitting round saying something should be done, and doing nothing! We’re different. We discuss, decide and then do something!” – Discuss, Decide, Do

Discuss, Decide, Do by Catherine Johnson – 5/5 stars. Post-war Britain, The 43 Group, standing up and fighting against fascism, bullying, and racism. A very powerful ending to this excellent collection of short stories.

If I’ve taken anything away from this collection, it’s that you can never just stand by and hope things will get better, or that people will become less ignorant. We have to affect change if we want it to happen. Make sure you use your voice in any way you can, any way that is safe. Stand against cruelty, nastiness, bullying, inequality, dehumanisation. Don’t just stand by and watch: make more noise, until they listen.

[Stephanie]

I like to read short story anthologies slowly over time to really savor them, so I'm going to update this review as I read the different stories.

I actually skipped to the end of the book to read Catherine Johnson's story first (because I love her writing so much). And I'm so glad I did! "Discuss, Decide, Do" is set in London after World War II, with a Jewish teenage heroine whose dad died fighting the Nazis - but who's now faced with fascists much like the ones he fought actually marching openly in her local streets, passing out hateful anti-semitic pamphlets and shouting anti-semitic slogans to try to incite even more hate against people like her. The story is about figuring out how to face that kind of hate in your world and move positively against it, and it's incredibly empowering and beautiful. I loved it!

[Robin Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of stories about brave, smart, interesting and funny girls, from ten brilliant British authors. (8+)

*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*

[Laura Noakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s why I think books like this one is so important:

Firstly, this is aimed towards kids and young adults. It is so, so important to make the history of the suffrage movement widely accessible to the public at large, and particularly important to do this in the case of young people. This book, that celebrates women, does this.

Secondly, whilst every one of the short stories has a common thread of feminism running through it, the diversity of this collection is LOVELY. Yes, there are great stories which centre suffrage, but there are also amazing fantasy & contemporary tales. Each one complements another.

Ultimately, this book is tremendous, each story was so good that they all seemed to stand out, and it’s a must read, especially in this centenary year!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always quite wary about reading anthologies as there are always stories I really dislike but Make More Noise was a really pleasant surprise because it delivered in so many different ways. These stories all have their own special moment within them and although I liked some more than others, on the whole I thought the whole collection was brilliant and the stories complimented each other too.

I love that this anthology was created to celebrate 100 years of woman’s suffrage because young readers will pick up these stories and they will learn so much. Even as a 27 year old I learnt things from these short stories that I never expected too. I think it will make young female readers feel empowered whilst giving them reason to stop, think and be grateful for what our ancestors went through for us to have what we have today. And we are still on the journey.

There are several stories in here that are historical fiction but written in a really accessible way for younger readers. There are also stories with a contemporary feel, those with a touch of fantasy, those that explore relationships with family and friends, the dynamics of different social classes, race and inequality. For such a quick selection of stories, they really do cover a lot and I think there is something in here for everyone.

My personal favourite stories were The Bug Hunters by M.G. Leonard, The Green-Hearted Girl by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, On Your Bike by Jeanne Wills and The Race by Ally Kennen. But I really did find something to like about all the stories in this anthology which is really rare for me. This is definitely a special collection of short stories that I really want to share with all the young readers I know. Fantastic!

[Nia Talbot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really important topic explored through this book. As with short stories, some I preferred more than others and some I thought were more relevant to the suffrage movement than others but an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

• A celebration of 100 years of suffrage‬
‪• Wonderful stories about inspiring women (real and fictional)‬
‪• Each author adds their own stamp to the book‬
‪• Entertaining and educational‬
‪• Appeals to a wide audience‬

[Danni Jervis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice little collection of short stories about famous and ordinary, but most of all inspiring women. All written by a group of fabulously talented female authors. Wonderful!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little collection of inspirational stories I've been dipping in and out of that all girls should read, big ones like me included!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for a younger YA audience - some of these stories I’d love to read as a full novel!

[Tiadeets · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories are diverse and there is something for everyone. I really enjoyed this little book. And any book that finishes with a story about punching nazis has my vote.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of short stories featuring girls standing up for themselves and their beliefs. Something for everyone.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

With these collaborative short-story collections, there's always a potential for them to be hit-or-miss. In this one, most of them were hits. The age of the protagonists trends towards the preteen age bracket - the oldest woman featured is 24. Because of this, it would make a wonderful addition to any school library, but absolutely readable by all ages. Most of them feature girls in ordinary or ordinary-for-their-time situations, most of them not having much to do with the Suffragettes.

The first story is Out for the Count, by Sally Nicholls. It's written in a sort-of overdone old-timey language that I'm not even convinced was how they spoke back then. It's also the only story to really focus on the women's suffrage movement, providing lots of information on other laws at the time. Despite this, it really wasn't my favourite, as it's purpose is to tell the reader about the problems faces by women.

The Bug Hunters by MG Leonard is a great way to introduce children to the concept of respecting bugs as part of nature, as with her novel series, Beetle Boy. It also lets readers know about a famous woman they might not have known about before. My favourite stories in this book are the ones which do that. In this case, it's Maria Sibyll Merian, a famous entomologist. Being set in the modern day and dealing with childhood issues such as bullying, it's one of the stories that people may find most relateable.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by Patrice Lawrence deals with two young girls who's dad was from Trinidad trying to make a living in late-Victorian London. This wasn't easy in that time period. It is another one to introduce us to a famous historical woman - Olive Christian Malvery, a woman of Anglo-Indian descent.

The Green-Hearted Girl by Kiran Millwood Hargrave really sticks out from the rest by being a fantasy novel. I felt like this one could really have made a great concept for a full novel. It uses an awful lot of exposition for a short story, but once it really gets going, it's great. I loved my mental image of tiny treeple living in their trees. The language used by the inhabitants to talk about the members of the other trees and the lessons learnt at their schools mirror a lot of discussions around different countries today.

Tea and Jam by Katherine Woodfine focuses on the sort of woman who is often left out of these situations. The quiet, well-behaved women. The ones who kept their heads down, got on with their work, and if they did fight, had to do it quietly. But that doesn't mean that their victories are any less worth celebrating than those who were marching in the streets.

On Your Bike by Jeanne Willis introduces us to a historical woman I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of before - Annie Londonderry, the first women to cycle around the world. It sticks out by being set in America and starring someone who is 24. You will be cheering Annie on with everyone else in this story.

The Tuesday Afternoon Ghost by Ella Risbridger is an interesting one. It will keep you wondering even as you move on to the next story. Did Mara actually fall and was Josie in her frightened state just seeing things, or did a ghost of a not actually dead person show up? Not one of my favourites, but not the worst of them really, either.

The Otter Path by Emma Carroll deals with toxic masculinity of all things. As it starts, you think it will be a story about the Land Girls, but it morphs into something quite different. The title also makes you think it might be about otters, but the otters are only there in the background. Not my favourite, but a firm middle of the stories.

The Race by Ally Kennen has a girl going to spend time on a farm with family she barely knows as her parents are going on holiday to Paris for two weeks without her. Said family has five sons. They take part in a race around the farm at the beginning and end of the holidays. Despite not riding for a while, and even then never having galloped, on one of the slower horses, the girl overtakes and almost wins until she falls off. At least the fall was realistic. It was discussed after that her posture was off throughout, too. What I would have done is had her spend those two weeks getting used to riding again, and then giving the boys a run for their money in a race. May honestly be my least favourite, mainly because of the unlikeliness of the scenario.

Discuss, Decide, Do is by Catherine Johnson. It deals with the kind of things we are still fighting today. That is, racist anti-Semitic people. This is set right after WWII, showing the exact kind of things taking hold in Britain that we'd just been fighting Germany against. And these people still exist. And while they do, I will make more noise until no-one thinks they're better than others because of their gender, race, religion, skin colour, sexual orientation, disability or social class.

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Make More Noise! anthology was released to celebrate the 100th anniversary of (some) women getting the right to vote, but that doesn’t mean that all of the stories are politically focused.
In fact, it’s a rather conflicting collection: some of the stories are set in the present day, while some are set many years ago; some of them are set in England, while some of them are set in different countries (and one is set in a mystical realm). The settings are often ambiguous, making it impossible to know which time period you’re supposed to be reading until the story is almost at a close. I found it disorienting as an adult reader, so I can’t imagine how the children this collection is aimed at figured things out!
Here are my thoughts on each of the ten stories individually, with the rating for the collection as a whole being the average rating:

Out For The Count by Sally Nicholls – 5/5: I hadn’t heard of the 1911 census boycott before, but that’s what this short story focuses upon. Peeking into an unknown aspect of the suffrage movement was a lot of fun, so Out For The Count was probably my favourite story of the entire collection.

The Bug Hunters by M.G. Leonard – 2/5: A girl is bullied for being fascinated by bugs. Had a nice moral about appreciating who your true friends are but I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by Patrice Lawrence – 3/5: Based on a true story, which I appreciated, but it felt unfinished and a little bit bland. This was the most forgettable story in the collection, so I can’t really say anything else about it!

The Green-Hearted Girl by Kiran Millwood Hargrave – 3/5: I’ve never been a huge fan of magical realism, but I loved Hargrave’s The Girl of Ink and Stars. Her writing style doesn’t really work in short story form. There are too many aspects that are unexplored, which leaves the reader with a lot of questions, but if she ever decided to expand this story I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

Tea and Jam by Katherine Woodfine – 5/5: A girl explores the idea of freedom after her employer’s friend teaches her about libraries. The bookworm in me was drawn to the protagonist – even though it was left on a cliffhanger and felt unfinished, I was absorbed and couldn’t resist giving it such a high rating.

On Your Bike by Jeanne Willis – 2/5: A mother decides to cycle around the world, only cutting a few corners on the way. This was told through diary entries, which I liked, but they’re far too close together at the beginning and extremely spaced out at the end, making the story feel rushed and hard to follow.

The Tuesday Afternoon Ghost by Ella Risbridger – 1/5: My least favourite story in the collection. The voices are unrealistic – the adults sound like children, while the child protagonist sounds ancient – and the ghost but not a ghost plotline was cliched.

The Otter Path by Emma Carroll – 5/5: Beautifully written, making me want to read more of Carroll’s stories. The otters have strong personalities, while the English countryside is so realistically described that it threw me back in time to my childhood. Delightful from beginning to end.

The Race by Ally Kennen – 4/5: Another very fun story. A girl goes to stay with distant relatives while her parents go on holiday without her, racing against them to try to prove that girls are just as good as boys at riding horses. Wasn’t perfect – the time period was ambiguous and the ending was a little disappointing – but was one of the most enjoyable stories in the collection.

Discuss, Decide, Do by Catherine Johnson – 3/5: Another story with an ambiguous time period. The beginning of the story feels very modern, but it’s eventually established that it takes place in the past. It smoothly combines real historical events with fictional characters, making it a solid end to the collection.

Taking all of that into consideration, I’m giving Make More Noise! a rating of 3.3/5 stars, which rounds down to 3 stars. It’s certainly a fun collection and some of the stories do a great job of informing younger readers of events that occurred during the suffrage movement and how girls felt when women were still unable to vote. Sadly some of the inclusions just don’t feel necessary, no matter how popular the author is in their field.

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Blogger.

[Hema · Rating 4 out of 5]

MAKE MORE NOISE

“Make more noise” is a collection of 10 different short stories written by UK’s best storytellers, they are as follows,

Sally Nicholls, M.G. Leonard, Patrice Lawrence, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Katherine Woodfine, Jeanne Willis, Ella Risbridger, Emma Carroll, Ally Kennen and Catherine Johnson

I just came to read this book by chance, one of my dearest childhood friends gifted it to me. She herself is an independent, self-made and inspiring woman, so I could not think about leaving it in my TBR and taking it for granted! At this juncture, I take pleasure in thanking her for her wonderful gift

Each story is uniquely distinct from the other, cultivating the significance and seriousness of many things (that have sometimes gone undervalued or unseen) that we own in the present day.

In saying this, this book was published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the UK

I loved the TITLE of each story in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed every story and my favourite ones are, “Out for the Count”, “Tea and Jam”, “On your Bike” and “The Otter Path”.

“If you want things to change, you've got to speak up. You have to fight for what you want”. (Tea and Jam by Katherine Woodfine)

The aforementioned quote kept me thinking that many little and great things that we currently relish, enjoy or swear about, are the things that were once longed for and fought for!

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly quick read book of short stories. From the description, I expected all the stories to be about suffragettes or suffrage, but in fact most of them aren't; they're just about girls standing up and doing things. It's probably the better way to have it.

My favourite story was The Green Hearted Girl, followed by The Otter Path. I wish more of the stories had explanatory notes like Discuss, Decide, Do, which talks about the 43 group in a short note. For instance, The Otter Path has two characters from the Land Army, which I know only the basics of; it would have been nice to have it explained a little.

That's a minor quibble, though, and I enjoyed the book very much apart from that.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of short stories celebrating women in all walks of life, of all ages. There’s some stories in here based on real people from history, and some purely fictitious. They’re all brilliant. I’m so glad this book exists to show girls that we need to stand up for ourselves and make noise if we see an injustice!

[Rebecca B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely and engaging collection of short stories for children. I enjoyed them all individually but there were some I felt didn't really fit in with a collection of stories honouring the centenary of women's suffrage. I did enjoy the stories connected to historical events in particular.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely collection of short stories

[Vonprice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful anthology of short stories celebrating girls and women, written by ten leading writers of MG fiction. A thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring book, perfect for upper KS2 children.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fantastic short stories. Lots that I found throughly engaging. Others not so much, but I can see how they would appeal to a wide range of audiences with differing reading preferences.

[Capnniknak · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an uplifting, bright and kickass collection of stories by imaginative talented writers. A must for young readers and adults.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sort of anthology that should be put into the hands of children and read by their adults too - just really fresh, but without any annoying false naivety.

[Hannah Sycamore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection, really good variety of stories. All with a positive message. A quick read, and a good one to dip in and out of.

[Kerry L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and inspiring collection of stories by some wonderful writers. Engaging for all ages.

[Ai-sha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute collection of stories. Got jumpscared by the fin-de-siecle journalist I wrote my dissertation about

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. An example of how writing short stories is harder than you think. Felt like authors were shoehorning ideas in for the sake of it. Most of the stories felt like the authors were writing this because it was something they agreed to do, rather than coming from the heart, like school essays. Tea and Jam by Katherine Woodfine and The Otter Path by ever readable Emma Carroll were the only ones of note.

[Kelly (kellyinbookland) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few great stories but the rest were mostly dreadful.