Review: Votes for Women!

Votes for Women! cover
Votes for Women! Amer­i­can Suf­frag­ists and the Bat­tle for the Ballot
by Winifred Conkling
Algo­nquin Young Read­ers, Feb­ru­ary 13, 2018

Grades 8–12, 320 pages

Here’s what the publisher says about Votes for Women!:

For near­ly 150 years, Amer­i­can women did not have the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, they won that right, when the 19th Amend­ment to the Con­sti­tu­tion was rat­i­fied at last. To achieve that vic­to­ry, some of the fiercest, most pas­sion­ate women in his­to­ry marched, protest­ed, and some­times even broke the law—for more than eight decades.
From Susan B. Antho­ny and Eliz­a­beth Cady Stan­ton, who found­ed the suf­frage move­ment at the 1848 Seneca Falls Con­ven­tion, to Sojourn­er Truth and her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, to Alice Paul, arrest­ed and force-fed in prison, this is the sto­ry of the Amer­i­can women’s suf­frage move­ment and the pri­vate lives that fueled its lead­ers’ ded­i­ca­tion. Votes for Women! explores suf­frag­ists’ often pow­er­ful, some­times dif­fi­cult rela­tion­ship with the inter­sect­ing tem­per­ance and abo­li­tion cam­paigns, and includes an unflinch­ing look at some of the ugli­er moments in women’s fight for the vote.
By turns illu­mi­nat­ing, har­row­ing, and empow­er­ing, Votes for Women! paints a vibrant pic­ture of the women whose tire­less bat­tle still inspires polit­i­cal, human rights, and social jus­tice activism.

And what the critics say about Votes for Women!:

  • “This is a fas­ci­nat­ing account of the bumpy road to women’s suf­frage in the U.S.… Well-cho­sen black-and-white archival repro­duc­tions and pho­tographs ably sup­port the text, which makes excel­lent use of pri­ma­ry sources, includ­ing excerpts from let­ters and writ­ings to bring key per­son­al­i­ties to life.” —The Horn Book Mag­a­zine (starred review)
  • “From the first Women’s Rights Con­ven­tion in Seneca Falls in 1848 to the rat­i­fi­ca­tion of the 19th Amend­ment in 1920, this is a com­mand­ing and rel­e­vant account of sweep­ing, hard-won social reform and action.” —Pub­lish­ers Week­ly (starred review)
  • “Span­ning mul­ti­ple cen­turies, this work may be the most com­pre­hen­sive account for young read­ers about the founders, lead­ers, orga­niz­ers, and oppo­nents of the Amer­i­can suf­frag­ist move­ment … Con­kling deliv­ers a tour de force.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
  • “Look­ing for a com­pre­hen­sive, well-writ­ten his­to­ry of women’s fight for the right to vote? You’ve found it. Con­kling draws read­ers in  … this is great for research as well as a good read.” —Book­list
  • “The intense dra­ma of the 72-year bat­tle for women’s suf­frage springs vivid­ly to life from the pages of this com­pul­sive­ly read­able account.” —School Library Journal

And here are my thoughts about Votes for Women!:

I lis­tened to this one as an audio­book as part of judg­ing the CYBILS con­test. I also plan to check out the print ver­sion so I can see the images and backmatter.
From the open­ing scene to the final chap­ter, I was com­plete­ly drawn in. I thought I knew a fair bit about the his­to­ry of the wom­en’s suf­frage move­ment, but it turns out I had only super­fi­cial knowl­edge of the peo­ple and events involved. I’m grate­ful to have been enlight­ened, although I’ll admit the expe­ri­ence was­n’t always easy nor pleas­ant. There were times when the injus­tices and insults endured by the women made me sput­ter with out­rage. And there were oth­er times when I was, lit­er­al­ly, reduced to tears by the way they were treat­ed. But most­ly I was grate­ful for the courage and per­sis­tence of these hero­ic female lead­ers and buoyed by it. Con­kling has brought these icons to life and giv­en us a peek inside their dai­ly lives in addi­tion to their well-known accom­plish­ments. I found it thor­ough­ly engaging.
This book should be required read­ing in schools for both girls and boys. It offers impor­tant lessons not only in his­to­ry but also in equal­i­ty and fair­ness, grit and deter­mi­na­tion, group dynam­ics and social inter­ac­tions, and pow­er and process. It also feels quite time­ly in this era of resis­tance, activism, and #MeToo. High­ly recommended.
Facts First! Nonfiction Monday

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