Lillian's Right To Vote

Author: Jonah Winter & Shane W. Evans
Publication Date: 2015
Type of Book: Historical Fiction Picture Book

This book is about an African American woman named Lillian. Lillian has lived for a very long time and during those years she has seen the struggle African Americans have faced, especially when it comes to voting. Lillian reminisces about the struggles faced by African Americans during this time and those brave individuals who pledged to make a difference. The story ends with Lillian finally getting to vote as a full fledge American citizen.

This story provided readers with a lot of information about the struggle African Americans faced regarding the right to vote. The authors packed a lot of important information into the pages of this book. I wasn't the biggest fan of the illustrations. It was an interesting type of art that didn't really appeal to me. I am a bigger fan of crisp images. I did however like how some of the information presented in the story was repeated more than once. This way readers would hear it again and this would help them remember it. It was interesting how the story was written in a timeline format, but it went back and forth between the past and present. The story had so much information on each page that it was exhausting at some points, but this was helpful in showing the tiring struggle African Americans felt on the road to being able to vote.

I would recommend this story to students in upper elementary school and up. There is just a lot of information in this story that students who are younger wouldn't understand. Before students can read this book and truly understand it they have to have strong reading skills. What could help students understand the information in this story is to create a timeline while reading. This visual could help students see how long it took for everyone to have the right to vote.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Lillians-Right-Vote-Celebration-Voting/dp/0385390289