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Summary
Summary
The author of Mesmerized delivers another fascinating glimpse into history, this time the story of two brave suffragists on a trek across America to spread the word: Votes for Women!
In April 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke set out from New York City in a little yellow car, embarking on a bumpy, muddy, unmapped journey ten thousand miles long. They took with them a teeny typewriter, a tiny sewing machine, a wee black kitten, and a message for Americans all across the country: Votes for Women! The women's suffrage movement was in full swing, and Nell and Alice would not let anything keep them from spreading the word about equal voting rights for women. Braving blizzards, deserts, and naysayers--not to mention a whole lot of tires stuck in the mud--the two courageous friends made their way through the cities and towns of America to further their cause. One hundred years after Nell and Alice set off on their trip, Mara Rockliff revives their spirit in a lively and whimsical picture book, with exuberant illustrations by Hadley Hooper bringing their inspiring historical trek to life.
Author Notes
Mara Rockliff is the author of many books for children, including Mesmerized, Anything But Ordinary Addie, Chik Chak Shabbat, and Me and Momma and Big John, winner of a Golden Kite Award. Mara Rockliff lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her family.
Hadley Hooper is a fine artist and illustrator whose work for children includes The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan, named one of School Library Journal 's Best Picture Books of 2014. Hadley Hooper lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In an account as lively as it is informative, Rockliff (Mesmerized) commemorates the centennial of a daring, dangerous, and successful publicity stunt undertaken to promote women's voting rights. With car travel in its infancy, suffragists Nell Richardson and Alice Burke-accompanied by a black kitten, a typewriter, and a sewing machine-set off on an around-the-country automobile tour to draw attention to the women's suffrage movement. The pair met with schoolchildren, attended parties, "dodged bullets at the Mexican border... drove on through the desert... and got lost for days" before completing a circuit around the perimeter of the United States. Hooper's (The Iridescence of Birds) airy mixed-media illustrations use brayered swaths of color to back lively vignettes of the activists consulting maps, pushing their stuck car out of the mud, or stopping to stick a daffodil behind a horse's ear. Various shades of the movement's signature color, yellow, feature prominently throughout, and endnotes offer additional details on the early automobile, as well as other key figures and milestones in the women's suffrage movement. Ages 5-8. Author's agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator's agency: Marlena Agency. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Based on actual newspaper accounts, this lively picture book chronicles a journey of two courageous women; Nell Richardson and Alice Burke encountered snowstorms, rough roads, and more while driving from New York to California in 1916 to campaign for women's voting rights. The cheery, appropriately old-fashioned illustrations, filled with suffragette yellow, help tell this little-known story, just one of many remarkable suffrage efforts. Reading list. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In 1916, two women, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke, hopped into their little yellow car with a teeny-tiny typewriter / an itsy-bitsy sewing machine . . . / and a wee black kitten. They were leaving New York City, heading off on an eventual journey of 10,000 miles to encourage women's suffrage. This high-spirited picture book, as engaging as it is informative, follows the women on their journey as they drive through icy streams, a blizzard, and thick sand, all in an effort to get people to listen to their message (though some are more interested in the car). But it wasn't all pitfalls: there were parties, and circus parades, and all sorts of towns where they could vie for people's support. Rockliff's snappy, sassy text is matched by Hooper's inventive illustrations, which crackle with activity. Using yellow as the signature color throughout, she offers pictures that brim with humor, even as they capture the underlying notion that crossing the country in the early days of motoring was no picnic. Sometimes there is more emphasis on the journey than the reason for it, but kids with questions will find much in the back matter about the movement. A delightful way to introduce two fascinating historical figures. Three, counting the kitten.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2016 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-A car made up of bright primary colors-yellow hood, blue doors, and red luggage compartment-transports suffragists Nell Richardson and Alice Burke, a kitten, and readers across the United States all in the name of "Votes for Women!" Throughout, the pacing is excellent, and Rockliff begins the adventure with a litany of items found inside the petite yellow vehicle ("tools,/spare parts,/a teeny-tiny typewriter") and introduces Richardson and Burke and emphasizes their determination to get the word out ("V. for W.!"). Readers will follow the two women (and their kitten) from New York City to Philadelphia, through a blizzard, a stop at an all-yellow luncheon, a stint in a circus parade, and more as they drive down South and along the U.S. and Mexican border all the way to California and back. Rockliff communicates the boundless energy of these two figures and adds touches of humor to lift the narrative; this small but significant historical moment is presented as accessible and fun without undermining the importance of Richardson, Burke, and the fight for women's equality. Hooper shows the women working together (a concluding image of Richardson handing Burke a daffodil is wonderful), the curiosity and interest on the faces of passersby (mainly white folks), and the dress and style of the times. While this is an excellent introduction to the efforts of suffragists, when discussing this text and the Nineteenth Amendment, librarians may want to clarify that statements such as "At last, American women had won the right to vote" (mentioned in the back matter section titled "Winning the Vote") did not always reflect the reality of African American women and other women of color, who often faced legal and illegal barriers to vote (especially in the South) until well into the 1960s. VERDICT Prepare for the arrival of the "little yellow car" into the hearts of readers; this charming and vibrant account of two lesser-known figures will bolster historical collections.-Della Farrell, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Rockliff introduces Nell Richardson and Alice Burke, whose five-month, 10,000-mile crusade for women's voting rights drew crowds and made colorful newspaper copy in 1916.Toting a kitten, a "teeny-tiny typewriter" and "an itsy-bitsy sewing machine"the better to demonstrate, during speeches, women's many skillsthe women depart New York City in a yellow Saxon runabout. They journey south, then west, across Texas to California, returning through northern border states. (A simple double-page map charts the route.) The spry narrative focuses mainly on the outward-bound segments, as Nell and Alice weather an East Coast blizzard, address curious crowds, join a circus parade in Georgia, and attend genteel socials. Rockliff knits from a skein of exciting cross-country events, all drawn from contemporary newspaper accounts. "They dodged bullets at the Mexican border / drove on through the desert / and got lost for days / till, finally, they reached // CALIFORNIA!" Hooper's sunny full-page and spot pictures combine pencil and printmaking in digital layers that evoke the off-register color separations of mid-20th-century children's illustrations. Most faces, features penciled in, are left as white as the background paper, with occasional pink or tan accents for cheeks and noses. Diversity is expressed in crowd scenes and on a New Orleans veranda, with a few faces tinted tan or brown.A lively look at the ingenuity of women suffragists near the end of their long road to the vote. (historical note, source note, bibliography of children's titles) (Informational picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
