One of the problems writers face in celebrating advances in social justice is acknowledging that those advances didn’t solve everything. Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America tackles the problem head-on.
With a rhythmic rhyming text that invites reading aloud, Deborah Diesen lays out the gap between the ideals in America’s founding and the ways they were enacted.
“White men with property
Went to the polls,
But the rest of the people
Were left off the rolls.”
Diesen chronicles the slow expansion of voting rights to new groups of people. The elements of the story are connected with a refrain:
But nothing could muffle
Equality’s call.
A right isn’t right
Till it’s granted to all.
The illustrations by Magdalena Mora are gentle and vibrant. She often shows children in the illustrations, connecting young readers to the story.
This book invites conversation–for example the spread about women’s suffrage features women of color on one page and white women on the opposite while the text celebrates women getting the vote but recognizes that some people faced “suppression” of vote. The first image in the book is of a teacher next to a blackboard with the phrase “Voting Rights” on it. I think this book is made just for those moments–whether they’re in the classroom or home.
Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Magdalena Mora. (Beach Lane: 2020)
I have just finished up the graphic novel bio of Frederick Douglas which has some of this about suffrage for women and people of color in it, too. And, I’m glad to know about this book, Annette. Others have been published recently and one granddaughter’s class has been studying women and the right to vote this year. They’ll love seeing about this one, too. Thanks, and looking forward to seeing your new book!
This book is in my pile to read. Hopefully soon!