This is one in a series of biographies written by Jean Fritz (Unforgettable Americans). Students may not realize there was a time when women were not given the privilege of voting. This privilege came to us after years of persuasion, struggle, writing, speech making, harassment, imprisonment, and more. The story begins with a young woman asking herself two questions. Who says women can’t speak in public? And why can’t they vote? Elizabeth Cady Stanton grew up asking herself these questions. She grew up in a family where the father believed that girls were not as important as boys. And her husband was humiliated and embarrassed when she spoke in public for the first time. Those things didn’t stop Elizabeth. This is her story and how she would not allow society to stop her from fighting for equality for everyone. Jean Fritz knows how to tell a story, including details that bring the time periods and the people to life. For example, the opening chapter tells how Elizabeth hated the poplar trees that lined the streets of her hometown. Why? In the spring thousands of dangling yellow inchworms would drop on the heads of people walking by. Kids will want to keep reading to find other little-known facts of life that worked together to create a fascinating woman who was unwavering in her beliefs and in her commitment to fighting for those beliefs. With only eight chapters, beautiful black and white illustrations, source notes, and an extensive bibliography this is a biography that helps us have a better understanding of an appreciation for the freedoms that we have in 2021.
About the Author: Jean Fritz was born to missionary parents in China. Her memoir tells of being proud of her American heritage and fighting the Revolutionary War on a daily basis on the playground with her British friends. Her excitement to learn the history of her American forefathers was quickly dashed by the facts, maps, and stacks of information in history textbooks. She became an author of American history and biography. She lived to be 100 years old and never tired of telling the stories of her American heroes. Her autobiography, based on journals she kept as a child, was a runner-up for the Newbery Award. Two of her series of books about the founding fathers (e.g., Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams, Where was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May) received New York Times book of the Year citations.
Pathways Themes: Heroes, Yesterday, Social Issues & Culture
Reviewed by Krystal Bishop, EdD
Professor of Education
Southern Adventist University
