If there is one thing we can't get enough of, it's books about Michigan women who've made their mark on the pages of history.
   Virginia Law Burns tells a dozen of those stories in Bold Women in Michigan History (Mountain Press 2006), described by Gladys Beckwith, the grand dame of women's history in Michigan, as "thoroughly readable and well-researched." The women Burns chose are well served by her carefully documented research, as well as the way in which she describes their lives and contributions.
    And her readers are well served by the book's illustrations, which include a map of referenced locations, its rich bibliography and list of historic sites. This is the kind of book a young person could take on a family vacation trip up north, in order to learn a little something along the way.
    Most importantly, Burns helps her young readers connect with these figures from the past, by relating the kinds of personal tidbits that help us all identify with those who have gone before us. She makes these women come alive with descriptions like this passage, about social activist Lucy Thurman, at a Women's Christian Temperance Union meeting:
    Standing before a mostly white audience, a handsome, dignified African American woman began to speak. Her voice was pleasing to the ear and her dynamic personality soon became apparent. The crowd sat mesmerized. Without a script or notes, and with confidence and conviction, the woman spoke words of power and eloquence.
    In addition to Burns, the women included in this collection are Marie-Therese Cadillac, Magdelaine LaFramboise, Elizabeth Chandler & Laura Haviland, Emma Edmonds, Marguerite deAngeli, Pearl Kendrick & Grace Eldering, Genevieve Gillette, Sippie Wallace, Cora Brown, Myra Wolfgang, Waunette Dominic and Delia Villegan Vorhauer.
   Never heard the names? Time to order a copy of the book. Available through amazon.com and mountain-press.com