Recollections of more than one hundred of O'Keeffe's friends, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors as well as published and previously unpublished historical records and letters are used to provide an in-depth study of the celebrated painter's life This admiring and honest biography relates the story of Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986). Raised on a Wisconsin farm in a family of "irrepressible individualists," Georgia O'Keeffe is a self-reliant child who decides early to become an artist. She works steadily toward that goal, attending art schools and teaching when family misfortunes dictate. In 1916, a friend sends some of her drawings to Alfred Steiglitz, renowned photographer and champion of avant-garde art. He promptly exhibits them, proclaiming that they reveal "a woman on paper." Furious at his presumption, Georgia O'Keefe confronts him. They become lovers and later marry, beginning an energetic collaboration that lasts until his death. She wants to have a baby, but he insists that she choose between motherhood and art. He promotes her work, which immediately becomes famous for its sexually-suggestive imagery, an interpretation she resolutely denies. Finding it increasingly difficult to live in his orbit, she gradually establishes a pattern of spending six months with him in New York and six months apart in New Mexico, her "spiritual home." By the time Alfred Steiglitz dies in 1946, Georgia O'Keeffe has firmly established herself as an artist. "Besides having a rich talent, ambition, assistance, and virtually no doubt about the validity of her vision, O'Keeffe had the brains to match her artistic gift and guide its flowering." As she examines Georgia O'Keeffe's complex personality, her choices and her reactions to the social and physical landscape around her, Laurie Lisle succeeds in drawing an inspiring portrait of a truly original, courageous woman. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14 . -- From 500 Great Books by Women ; review by Lynne Auld Trade paperback