Women’s Suffrage Centennial
Stating a Case
Tennesee, the crucial 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment—
which made women’s suffrage national law—figures into a number
of commemorations. When The Woman’s Hour by Elaine Weiss
pubbed in 2018, PW’s starred review called it “a page-turning recon-
struction of the last push to ratify the 19th Amendment in Tennessee
in 1920.” Random House is releasing a middle grade version in June
2020, and Steven Spielberg’s production company is adapting Weiss’s
narrative for TV, with Hillary Clinton executive producing.
Another take on Tennessee’s role is found in The Voice That Won the
Vote by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger (Sleeping Bear,
Mar. 2020; ages 7–10). It zeroes in on Phoebe Burn, whose letter to
her son Harry, a member of the state legislature, tipped the scales in
favor of ratification. “The book features themes of courage, women’s
rights, and standing up for what you believe in,” Boxer says. “It also
highlights the fact that just one voice—and one vote—can make a
monumental difference.”
Calkins Creek, the U.S. history imprint of Boyds Mills Press,
challenges the idea that American history is staid with Fight of the Century
by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Sarah Green (Mar. 2020; ages 7–10). The narrative
is structured as a four-round boxing match between a key suffragist and the 28th
president of the U.S., whom she eventually won over to her cause.
“No kid is going to say, ‘Ooh, a book about Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson,’ but
once they get into it, they’ll identify with both,” says senior editor Carolyn Yoder.
“Kids are becoming more active, and no matter what they’re involved in, they want to
feel like they can have a voice.”
Other new children’s books offer more contemporary stories of voting rights activ-
ists. Lift as You Climb (S&S/McElderry, June 2020; ages 4–8), written by Sibert Honor
author Patricia Hruby Powell and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist R. Gregory
Christie, celebrates the life and work of civil rights activist Ella Baker, whose causes
included voter registration and the fight against voter suppression. One refrain in the
book is a question: “What do you hope to accomplish?”
Elizabeth Rusch, a magazine writer and former U.S. Senate committee staffer, poses
a more pointed question with You Call This Democracy? (HMH, Mar. 2020; ages 12–
up). She examines issues of voter suppression, gerrymandering, and money in politics,
among others, illuminating flaws in the system while encouraging young readers to
take action to fix them. ■
Sarah J. Robbins is a writer and editor in Michigan who has covered and collaborated with women
activists from around the world.
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