BRAVE LADIES FICTIONAL AND REAL

ANNE FRANK

Forgiveness takes courage. Despite her circumstances,

Anne found peace by forgiving the Nazis for their

anti-Semitic atrocities and still having faith in the

goodness of humanity.

MIEP GIES

For two years, this courageous woman risked her life by

providing the Frank family with food, news, and friendship.

She continued to fight for the family after their capture by

bribing the police to release them, but to no avail. Had she

not safeguarded the diaries, Anne’s story might have

never been published.

CLARA BARTON

Known as the “Angel of the Battlefield,” this young nurse

Tended to wounded soldiers on the front lines during the

grittiest Civil War battles. Her experiences led her to found

the Red Cross in 1881. In addition to her nursing

accomplishments, she also taught school at a time

when most teachers were male.

KATNISS EVERDEEN

This girl’s on fire. Not only did she volunteer as tribute to

Save her little sister from almost certain death, but she

also survived The Hunger Games and found a way to show the

Capitol she wasn’t just a pawn in its games.

MARIA VON TRAPP

Being sent away from home to work as a governess for

Seven notoriously difficult children is enough to make

anyone afraid. Add some angry Nazis into the mix and you

have a sure fire horror story. No matter what problems

she and her family faced, Maria’s confidence and optimistic

attitude never faltered.

HELEN KELLER

Imagine living in a dark, quiet world. This was the only reality

Helen Keller knew after a fever left her deaf and blind as an

infant. In spite of these obstacles, she learned to communicate

using signals and was eventually able to speak, going on to

become a famous speaker and author.

RUBY BRIDGES

Would you be willing to face insults and threats from a

screaming mob to obtain an education? Ruby Bridges did

just that at the tender age of 6 when she became the first

African-American student to attend an all-white elementary

school in the South. Only one instructor agreed to teach

Ruby, who was the only child in her class because parents

threatened to send their children elsewhere, and four federal

marshals escorted her to and from class each day.

Through her act of valour, she paved the way for

integration in other schools.

IRENA SENDLER

It sounds like something out of a work of fiction, but this

courageous woman’s story is indeed real. During World War II,

Irena Sendler smuggled more than 2,500 Jewish children out

of the Warsaw Ghetto, where she worked as a plumbing and

sewer specialist. The Nazis eventually caught her, broke her

arms and legs, and beat her severely. She had kept a record of

all the children she helped and buried it in a glass bottle under

a tree, which she later dug up and used to help reunite

family members who had been torn apart.