By Deborah Heiligman
Farrar Straus Giroux / Macmillan, 2025
326 pages
978-1-250-82307-6
Age 14 and older
This luminous biography of Jewish activist and anarchist Emma Goldman spotlights her turn-of-the-century activism while highlighting contemporary issues. A tumultuous early life in Lithuania and St. Petersburg included beatings by her father, an experience that solidified her independent spirit and resistance of authority. Smart, curious, and a seeker of art and culture, Goldman arrived in the U.S. in 1885, already intrigued by the radical political ideals of anarchy. A short-lived marriage cemented Emma’s citizenship and her commitment to free love. Moving to New York City as a single seamstress, she met famous anarchist Johann Most and began moving in activist circles. She also met Alexander “Sasha” Berkman and his cousin, Modest, two men who became her lifelong friends and on-again/off-again lovers. The trio pursued many political issues together, but the Homestead steel strike hardened their anarchistic beliefs. Convinced that Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie’s chief negotiator in Homestead, must die, Sasha carried out an attempted assassination. Emma’s fateful connection to Sasha and her brief citizenship-granting marriage trailed her throughout her life, ultimately serving as proof of her status as a public enemy of the United States. Heiligman’s engaging profile depicts an imperfect activist ahead of her time. ©2026 Cooperative Children’s Book Center