Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 02/01/2020 K-Gr 2—This introduction to the history of voting rights in the United States includes a catchy and powerful refrain: "A right isn't right/Till it's granted to all." Charming mixed-media illustrations convey the slow but steady forward momentum of progress. Double-page spreads depict increasingly large crowds of people fighting for equal rights over the years. Back matter provides further understanding of amendments, legislation, and the many leaders who played essential roles in the long struggle to grant full and safe participation in our elections to people of color, women, individuals with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. While the rhyming text makes the story suitable and very appealing for young readers, words like abolition, suffrage, franchise, and enslavement may require adult explanations. VERDICT A useful presentation of an important topic that will be a valuable curriculum resource and also encourage parent-child conversation.—Gloria Koster, formerly at West School, New Canaan, CT - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 01/01/2020 This timely book will be popular among social studies and civics teachers eager to instill in youngsters the importance of voting. Told in a jaunty rhyme, the text opens with a teacher preparing to take her students on a journey through American history, with specific regard to the matter of enfranchisement. There’s no sugarcoating the hypocrisy with which it all started: “This great founding ideal / Was extended to some / And for others not real.” Readers learn how women and people of color have had to fight for the right to vote—a right originally reserved for white men with property. The illustrations are key to understanding this struggle as, page by page, the disenfranchised grow in number as they march, demanding their rights with the refrain, “But we heard growing clearer / Equality’s call / A right isn’t right / Till it’s granted to all.” Back matter includes an overview of relevant constitutional amendments and notable voting rights activists. Pair with Margaret McNamara’s forthcoming Vote for Our Future! (2020). - Copyright 2020 Booklist.