Introduction -- The artists. Lady Sarashina -- Marianne North -- Isabella Bird -- Nellie Bly -- Zora Neale Hurston -- Freya Stark -- Emily Hahn -- Josephine Baker -- Mihaela Noroc -- The pioneers. Teuta -- Isobel Gunn -- Sacagawea -- Amelia Earhart -- Beryl Markham -- Ada Blackjack -- Lucy Nabiki Takona -- Aisholpan Nurgaiv -- The scientists. Maria Sibylla Merian -- Jeanne Baret -- Wang Zhenyi -- Yn©♭s Mex©Ưa -- Sylvia Earle -- Roberta Bondar -- Nalini Nadkarni -- Bolortsetseg Minjin -- The activitsts. Maomi Wadler -- Joan of Arc -- Nzinga -- Bessie Coleman -- Whina Cooper -- Gertrude Blom -- Shannen Koostachin -- Noor Inayat Khan -- Anita Roddick -- Svetlana Alexievich -- The athletes. Annie Londonerry -- Diana Nyad -- Cheryl Strayed -- Kimi Werner -- Silvana Lima -- Arunima Sinha -- Mira Rai -- Laura Dekker -- Ashima Shiraishi -- Jade Hameister. The seekers. Isabel Godin -- Hester Stanhope -- Alexandra David-N©♭el -- Isabelle Eberhardt -- Robyn Davidson -- Manon Ossevoort -- Nujeen Mustafa.

"Now more than ever, the world is recognizing how strong women and girls are. How strong? In the early 1920s, Aboriginal Alaskan expeditioner Ada Blackjack survived for two years as a castaway on an uninhabited island in the Arctic Ocean before she was finally rescued. And shes just one example. The Girl Who Rode a Shark: And Other Stories of Daring Women is a rousing collection of biographies focused on women and girls who have written, explored, or otherwise plunged headfirst into the pages of history. Undaunted by expectations, they made their mark by persevering in pursuit of their passions. The tales come from a huge variety of times and places, from a Canadian astronaut to an Indian secret agent and to a Balkan pirate queen who stood up to Ancient Rome."--