Kirsten Gillibrand

Ten courageous women who inspired the author, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, are profiled in this book: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Jovita Idar, Alice Paul, Inez Milholland, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Burns, and Mary Church Terrell. The back matter gives thumbnail views of additional heroines who worked for women’s rights.

On each double page spread, the outstanding illustrator Maira Kalman paints each woman on the left side, along with a famous quote by her. On the right, a smaller “action” picture accompanies Gillibrand’s text, which explains what each woman did and why it was so groundbreaking.

Gillibrand is adept at distilling a lot of information into a pithy and informative biography of each woman, so that we know why they are considered historically significant. Some are less known than others, but clearly, from Gillibrand’s accounts, this diverse group of women all had admirable stories worth knowing.

She ends by writing:

“Now it’s your turn. You are the suffragists of our time. What would you change if you could? Stand up, speak out, and fight for what you believe in. Be bold and be brave. The future is yours to make.”

On that last page of the main text, Kalman shows a group of women, one of whom is wearing a t-shirt that reads “Vote!” Another is carrying the sign “Change the World.”

The 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, ratified on August 18, 1920, is reprinted in the back of the book.

Evaluation: Every woman in this book was bold and brave, and each one of their stories is heartening and motivating. One hopes that young people who read this book, and who watch 17-year-old Greta Thunberg try to alert the world to the need for action on the climate, will see how effective activism can be, even by just one person, whether young or old.… (meer)

The author begins by telling a little about the strong women in her own family who taught her to fight for what she believes in. She then goes on to tell a little about ten women who played an important role in helping women gain the right to vote. These women include Elizabeth Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Jovita Idar, Alice Paul, Inez Milthollan, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Burns, and Mary Church Terrell. This book is very educational, I learned a lot from it so it would be great to read in a classroom. It explains any words that students might not be familiar with such as, suffrage and abolitionist. The back of the book goes on to name even more women that have helped shape our nation.… (meer)

3.5 stars. I barely recognized Kirsten Gillibrand's name before I picked up this book, and I just sort of jumped into it for no reason; in fact, I'm reading several other things already, and they all ended up on hold while I sped through this one. You know how political memoirs can seem kind of canned and obviously ghostwritten? Either Gillibrand has a much better ghostwriter, or she was a lot more personally involved, and either way she makes you feel like it's the latter.

You can hear the politician-speak sometimes when she talks about Congress (and her religion, too, although that could just be me projecting; I couldn't help thinking that an American politician HAS to appear religious even if they aren't really, so I never know how much of it is real). But most of the time, what you hear is a real person, one who sounds like she'd actually be great to hang out with, even if she is incessantly optimistic. I love that she swears on Capitol Hill and in her book. I love that she focuses on such important issues, and takes her kids to work. I love that she wrote this book to tell regular people they can be important. "There are women doing amazing things, and you should be one of them." She's not the first to talk about getting involved, but she's one of the first I've read to make it sound real, and normal. Not that her own path was what most of us would call normal (like being able to write thousand-dollar checks to get her new career started), but somehow even so, it feels like she is. That's pretty refreshing.… (meer)