Book Review: “Powers of A Girl” by Lorraine Cink

With March marking Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day taking place on the 8th, we wanted to look back at our book review of Powers of a Girl by Lorraine Cink. Beyond Women’s History Month, now is the perfect time to revisit Powers of a Girl as it explores the origins of dozens of Marvel heroes including Wanda Maximoff and Monica Rambeau (WandaVision); Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow); Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel); Kate Bishop (Hawkeye); Riri Williams (Ironheart); Lunella Lafayette (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur); America Chavez (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel 2) and many more. 

A few years ago, a Marvel Tsum Tsum game debuted and, through this game, players were introduced to a whole roster of Marvel characters they probably never knew existed. Sadly, the game has since gone offline, but when we opened Powers of A Girl, it was thrilling to discover that we already knew a majority of these women and girls.

Powers of A Girl is written by Marvel’s Lorraine Cink who fans will recognize from, “Earth’s Mightiest Show,” “Marvel By the Numbers,” “Marvel Minute,” and other Marvel YouTube shows. Cink takes a look at 65 heroic women from Marvel’s 80 year history and expounds on 34 characters with full profiles of some of the newer and biggest names in the comics. Starting with Captain Marvel, her book breaks down the stories of these women from the time their journey began up to who they are today and where they’re headed in the future.

Each profile is based on the comic versions of these women, meaning they are a bit different from the television and MCU characters that some readers are likely more familiar with. Along with each full profile, and sprinkled throughout the entire book, are gorgeous illustrations of these women and girls by artist, Alice X. Zhang. While these drawings share some similar looks with their TV and movie counterparts, they are entirely, uniquely their own.

Powers of A Girl is geared towards girls 12 and older—but boys are just as welcome to read it too. The book contains plenty of modern references and lingo as well as a few instances of breaking the “fourth wall” as Gwenpool adds a bit of her own commentary. As an adult reading this book it proved to be bit much, but we’re quite certain any 14-year-old, would call it “awesome.”

While none of the characters in this book are perfect, the women featured ultimately have a positive story arc, so villains aren’t listed. A few other notable missing characters include women of the X-Men franchise, Sue Storm from Fantastic Four, and Jessica Jones. Jones’ and Tandy Bowen’s (Dagger) names are mentioned briefly, but not featured beyond that. But fans of Marvel Rising and The Runaways will be thrilled to read about their favorite females. As for the other heroes, we’re guessing they missed this cut because Disney doesn’t own the all of the rights to these characters (for now). However, it wouldn’t be surprising if additional books are being planned for the future.

Powers of A Girl is a reaffirming book that reminds readers, yes, you are strong and can do amazing things. You don’t have to have super powers or be perfect to be a hero. Surround yourself with friends and family who support you and don’t let others dictate what you should do. This book is a perfect introduction for those wanting to learn more about the women of Marvel. Fans who are already familiar with these characters will find this book to be a great addition to their Marvel library.

Powers of A Girl is available now on Amazon. We give it 4 out of 5 BFFs.