An outstanding and inspirational guide to women’s history for today’s political activists.
Explains how women in the U.S. won the right to vote, with applicable lessons for youth today.
The authors, friends from two powerful U.S. political families that have been intertwined for three generations, set out to write a quick guide showing how suffragists changed the country by securing women’s voting rights. The tale spans the long journey from the 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. This complicated story includes an overview of many key leaders, in-group fighting, and various setbacks. The book distills the complexities into vivid biographies and compelling vignettes that breathe new life into old history. Readers meet many familiar names, including Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglass, as well as less well-known individuals. The White authors do not shy away from addressing racism within the movement, highlighting Black suffragists and noting everyone’s race so that Whiteness is not the default. Each chapter title is a synopsis of a strategy (for example, “Tell Your Story,” “Engage a Wider Audience,” and “Recruit the Allies You Need”), and each chapter begins and ends with sage advice to readers about how to apply the successful tactics of the suffragists to today’s political struggles. The bright, clean layout and color scheme are visually enticing, making this an appealing manual for action.
An outstanding and inspirational guide to women’s history for today’s political activists. (source notes) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1033-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
Sounding like a corny uncle knee-slapping his way through a civics textbook, or perhaps a high-school history teacher certain that name-dropping rock bands will make him seem hip, this full-color guidebook aims for edutainment but falls far short.
Despite the implication of the title, the subject matter is not comprehensive, instead covering a hodgepodge of topics from the Electoral College to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the Salem Witch Trials. In an attempt to enliven dry, disjointed infodumps, the authors crack constant, unfunny verbal and visual jokes that range from painfully dated (the chapter on dynasties in U.S. business and politics devotes most of a page to an aside about the TV show Dynasty, complete with a photograph of the cast) to downright tasteless (“Mexico sends us hardworking laborers, petroleum...and the irresistible two taco/one enchilada combo plate”). Visual content also serves as a gag (a picture of an Afghan hound in the War on Terror section is captioned “Afghans are known for their distrust of outsiders and lustrous coats”). The brief conclusion takes a more serious turn by suggesting steps toward activism and pointing readers toward organizations working on a variety of issues.
There are a few nuggets of helpful information here, but readers will be too busy groaning to find them. (Nonfiction. 12 & up)
Pub Date: July 19, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9792-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A clean, graphically interesting design abets a well-researched, engaging narrative that contributes a more nuanced view of...
A fascinating look at one of the most crucial places and periods in the civil rights movement through two polar opposites.
Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth, an African-American minister, was committed to ending segregation in Birmingham, Ala., and Eugene “Bull” Connor was just as determined to see it maintained. Shuttlesworth was drawn to preaching and teaching as a young man, and his fiery personality led him to seek change in his community. His agitation for the hiring of black police officers outraged “Bull” Connor, Commissioner for Public Safety, who was determined to “…put the Negro in his place, something he liked to brag about knowing how to do.” Brimner captures the intense and often violent struggle between the forces for change and those seeking to keep the status quo in a city known as “Bombingham.” He carefully explores the realities both men faced and does not shy away from depicting their complex personalities. The author is also clear about his point of view. While he admires Shuttlesworth, he understands the importance of Connor’s role. “Without this staunch racist and his harsh response to the African American cry for justice, civil rights progress might have taken an even longer time in coming.”
A clean, graphically interesting design abets a well-researched, engaging narrative that contributes a more nuanced view of the period than is often seen. (author's note, further reading, source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-766-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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