The women who won the vote Ten tales from a revolutionary movement

PreS-Gr 3--The women's suffrage movement took place in crowded lecture halls, prison cells, and in newspaper headlines. The book features 10 of the most influential people who helped bring this goal to fruition. In just five minutes per segment, the book introduces familiar names like Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony, and other figures not often covered, such as Ojibwe lawyer Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin, through accessible language and memorable imagery. Because of the complexity of the concepts featured in the text and the vocabulary used, this work is best shared with a caregiver or educator. It includes biographical and supporting information about relevant suffrage-related topics. Using child-friendly font and detailed, eye-catching illustrations, the collection draws readers in and offers a reasonable foundation from which to continue learning about the movement that ultimately led to equal voting rights for women. Back matter includes a timeline. VERDICT Ideally suited as an introduction to women's suffrage and the people who made it possible, this volume invites young readers to learn about history at their own pace.

Branching out into mini-biography, the 5-Minute series introduces voting rights. Though readers can browse this work, the various entries make more sense read in chronological order, since many efforts built on (or departed from) earlier pioneers' work. Roberts describes Susan B. Anthony's arrest for illegally voting in 1872, Lucy Stone's decision to keep her own name after marriage, and how Alice Paul disrupted a mayoral banquet in London to draw attention to the cause. The author also considers the experiences of women of color, noting that Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells endured both misogyny and racism as they fought for the right to vote. Roberts spotlights Ojibwe lawyer Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin, who wanted to make the public aware of Indigenous peoples' longtime support for women's suffrage. Each well-crafted story is capped by an additional page of context--for instance, the difference between the termssuffragist andsuffragette. Roberts briefly describes the methods used by various groups and notes past disagreement over whether violent protest was acceptable. Lively, watercolorlike vignette illustrations accurately depict the settings. A useful appended timeline begins in 1832 (with Mary Smith becoming the first woman to officially request the right to vote in the U.K.) and ends with the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act decision that "opened the door to potential barriers that could make it harder for some groups to vote." Ten compelling episodes in the voting rights story--a still-unfinished fight.(Nonfiction. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.