Ida Tarbell

Author: Emily Arnold McCully
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Clarion Books, 2014
Pages: 288
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success. Rejecting the term "muckraker" to describe her profession, she went on to achieve remarkable prominence for a woman of her generation as a writer and shaper of public opinion. This biography offers an engrossing portrait of a trailblazer in a man's world who left her mark on the American consciousness.

Review: More textbook than novel, this is written to young adults, which probably made it more palpable. Growing up in the "oil region," not far from Titusville, PA, Ida Tarbell was a household name. I knew of her, but not much about her. I can't imagine this will appeal to many readers for pleasure reading, but I got through it. I hadn't realized Tarbell was so influential or so well-known.