Good Girls Don't Make History

August 30, 2021
In one fictional vignette of this nonfiction graphic novel, a modern-day girl’s complaint about the length of a voting line results in her mother replying, “It took nearly 100 years to get this right.” Flashing back to the past, the narrative centers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organizing the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, the founding meeting of the women’s rights movement in the U.S. Kiehner, Olwell, and Coyle highlight oft-told dramatic moments in the history of women’s suffrage activism, from the 1840s through the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, prohibiting sex-based voting discrimination. The narrative focuses largely on well-known white women such as Susan B. Anthony, Victoria Woodhull, Inez Milholland, and Alice Paul, as well as several portraits of Black women’s suffrage activists, such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Sojourner Truth, and Ida B. Wells. Luscious illustrations by Dawn present a rich range of expressions and dynamic angles. Unfortunately, the book upholds a tired narrative of white women’s suffrage activism, failing to point out the large degree of racism and white supremacy present within the movement, and eliding the many significant contributions of Black women, such as Ida B. Wells’s founding of the Alpha Suffrage Club. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 12–up.

December 3, 2021

Gr 6-9-Opening at a modern-day polling place, a brown-skinned mother and daughter wait in a long line to cast their vote. The mother reminds her daughter that while waiting in line is frustrating, voting is doing and that nearly 100 years ago, women had just been granted their voting rights. Told in flashbacks between present and historical vignettes, the book details the evolution of the women's rights movement and the fight for the right to vote. Historical figures such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Emmeline Pankhurst are brought to life, and Kiehner follows the trajectory of history, from the Seneca Falls Convention through the ratification of the 19th Amendment that banned sex-based voter discrimination in the 20th century. The narrative focuses mainly on white woman suffragettes, touching only briefly on the work of Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and the influence of Native American Iroquois women on the mainstream movement. Where the graphic novel succeeds is in Dawn's artwork; each frame is at once dreamy and dynamic. The soft illustrations complement the historical narrative, adding depth and dimension to the facial expressions of each figure, heightening the emotion. While this graphic novel may not be as hard-hitting as it could be in calling out the racial disparity of the women's rights movement, readers will benefit from the lengthy historical time line included in a single graphic novel. VERDICT Middle schoolers seeking to get their feet wet with historical nonfiction will appreciate this work.-Elise Martinez

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