Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly

Description

A gripping biography of Nellie Bly, pioneering female journalist and adventurer. The dead of night, New York City, 1887. Twenty-three-year-old Nellie Bly stares into a mirror, unblinking, eyes forced open as wide as possible. After she loses track of time, she moves away, reads an unnerving ghost story in dim gaslight, then returns to the mirror, eyes bulging, this time practicing deranged facial contortions. The purpose of this bizarre nocturnal ritual? To prepare herself to hoodwink the city's top doctors into deeming her incurably insane. To be committed to Roosevelt Island's infamous asylum. And, once there, to write and publish the most sensational expose of the clinic's horrific treatment of its patients. Nellie succeeded in her quest and skyrocketed to fame. Her inspiring career in "stunt" journalism that followed enthralled her readers as she drew attention to political corruption, poverty, and abuses of human rights. Leading an uncommonly full life, Nellie went on to do everything from circling the globe in a record seventy-two days and bringing home a pet monkey to marrying an aged millionaire and running his company upon his death. Meticulously researched and told in spare, captivating prose, Ten Days a Madwoman dares young readers to live as boldly as its remarkable heroine.

Deborah Noyes writes for adults and children, and is an editor and photographer. Her previous nonfiction for young readers includes One Kingdom- Our Lives with Animals and Encyclopedia of the End- Mysterious Death in Fact, Fancy, Folklore, and More. Born in California, she has lived most of her adult life in Massachusetts, working all manner of day jobs to support the writing habit-from bartender and book reviewer to children's book editor and zookeeper. She's the only person she knows who's been bitten by a dwarf lemur.

Accolades for Ten Days a Madwoman: - A Junior Library Guild selection - 2016 Nerdy Book Club Award for Long Form Nonfiction - A 2016 Cybils Award finalist - An ALA 2017 Amelia Bloomer list pick - 2017 New York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize finalist "Noyes makes history accessible and irresistible in this thrilling account of women's lives, flagrant abuse, scandal, courage, and tenacity. . . Excellent." -School Library Journal, starred review "You should also read Ten Days A Madwoman, even if you're not in middle school. You'll learn something. Because this isn't just a storybook telling of a woman's adventures . . . For a book that chronicles the life of a reporter at the end of the 19th century, Ten Days A Madwoman holds a startling prescience to the issues we face today, from benevolent sexism in the newsroom to the continued exploitation of the working class . . . a gripping book from start to finish, for kids and adults alike." -The A.V. Club "Plenty of pizzazz. The brisk narrative draws from Bly's own writings and from biographies, skillfully incorporating quotations, dialogue, and well-chosen facts. The overall tone is admiring, but the balanced text also acknowledges criticism of her kind of "stunt" reporting and touches briefly on problems in her personal life . . . A lively biography that reflects the spirit of the intrepid reporter." -Kirkus Reviews "Noyes's thoroughly researched account, with archival photos and myriad quotes from Bly's own work, offers a well-rounded look at a self-possessed women who was nothing if not resilient." -Publishers Weekly "Noyes' vivid storytelling throws us headfirst into Nellie Bly's inspiring work and incredibly daring adventures." -Steve Sheinkin, National Book Award Finalist and Newbery Honor-winning author of Bomb and The Port Chicago 50 "Ten Days a Madwoman thrilled and terrified me at the same time. I'd heard of Nellie Bly as a crusading reporter, but had no idea how daring, impetuous, and smart she was. I've got a new hero." -Elizabeth Partridge, National Book Award Finalist and Printz Honor-winning author of John Lennon and This Land Was Made for You and Me "Noyes delivers a riveting narrative of one of our cleverest and most resourceful heroines, zeroing in on Nellie Bly's first expose, and putting us right in the madhouse alongside sane women being driven crazy." -Tanya Lee Stone, Sibert Medalist and NAACP Image Award-winning author of Almost Astronauts and Courage Has No Color "In Ten Days a Madwoman, Deborah Noyes gives us a compelling portrait of Nellie Bly, the audacious young reporter who risked her own safety to expose social injustice. Vividly written and gorgeously illustrated, the book brings fully to life a heroine of her time - and ours." -Matthew Goodman, bestselling author of Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World "Noyes' emphasis on muckraking as opposed to showmanship is a valuable corrective to Bly's popular legacy." -Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books "A stimulating read for those interested in strong women throughout history." -VOYA "A good, readable introduction to a fascinating vanguard." -Booklist "Noyes smartly...engage[s] readers." -Horn Book "In this truly thrilling, appealingly designed, photo-laden biography by Deborah Noyes, readers will not only get a chilling look into the horrors of Blackwell's Island, but also a sense of women's challenges in 19th-century America." -Shelf Awareness