Miss Paul and the President

June 1, 2016
In time for the national elections, the story of an ardent early-20th-century fighter for women's suffrage.Alice Paul was deeply committed to women's voting rights, a passion inflamed in her youth when she witnessed her father but not her mother going to the polls. Reading in the Constitution that elections were open only to men, she schooled herself about suffrage and eventually joined the burgeoning movement. She organized parades, letter-writing campaigns, and White House protests, though her efforts failed initially. One attention-getting accomplishment was to steal Woodrow Wilson's thunder when the newly elected president arrived at a Washington, D.C., train station expecting cheering crowds. Instead, the throngs were attending--some jeering at--a nearby parade Paul had organized. Even a meeting this nervy woman initiated with the president aroused little sympathy. The arrest of Paul and other suffragists during a protest--and strong support from the president's daughter--finally convinced Wilson to urge Congress to pass a law granting women the vote. The simple narrative ably explains and arouses respect for Paul's ardor and achievements. The cheery, cartoony illustrations, created in watercolor, colored pencil, and other media, show a generally smiling, white Paul in her signature floppy purple hat. Endpapers feature illustrated newspaper headlines that set events in context. Readers may regret the absence of a glossary. Useful for discussions about women's rights and political influence. (author's note, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

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June 1, 2016

K-Gr 3-This picture book biography introduces young readers to Alice Paul, the suffragist and women's rights activist. Readers will learn of Paul's fierce efforts to win the right to vote for women, including putting together a parade in Washington, DC, that upstaged the incoming president, Woodrow Wilson; organizing protesters outside the White House; and directly confronting President Wilson on the matter of women's suffrage. The author connects these efforts ("making mischief") to Paul's wild youth, a time when she sneaked candy, chased chickens, and threw mud balls. Watercolor and color pencil illustrations support this spirited view with lively movement and color as she is shown leading a parade of 8,000 women, sitting in President Wilson's office and looking him right in the eye, protesting outside the White House gate, and even being hauled off to jail by the police for refusing to leave the grounds. All of these efforts pay off when Wilson finally decides to support women's right to vote. A final illustration shows the triumphant Paul on her way to vote in the 1920 election. VERDICT This is an engaging introduction to an important and often neglected historical figure. Older readers can find additional information in Ann Bausum's With Courage and Cloth.-Myra Zarnowski, City University of New York

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Grades 2-4 In 1914, suffragette Alice Paul and her National Woman's Party planned a huge parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to push her cause. At the same time, newly elected President Woodrow Wilson was getting off a train in D.C., expecting a large crowd. But everyone was at the parade! Wilson invited Paul to the White House but told her he had more important problems than the woman's vote. So Paul decided to do what she did as a girl down on the farm: cause trouble. That included laying signature-filled scrolls down the Capitol steps, getting people to send bags of letters to Wilson, and being arrested at the White House. Finally, and with the persuasion of his daughter, Wilson came on board. The story is full of concrete actions and gritty determination; unfortunately, there's no way to know if it's all true. Although there is a short bibliography, the author's note only covers the period after Paul secured Wilson's support. Zhang's lively watercolor and colored-pencil art captures the sense of fun that seems to have been Paul's modus operandi.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
This account of suffragette Alice Paul's involvement in ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment foregoes some historical points and figures (e.g., WWI, hunger strikes), and Robbins's focus on Paul's apparel ("this small woman in a purple hat") somewhat undermines broader messages of empowerment. Still, it's a lively introduction, and Zhang's colorful illustrations spotlight story elements while providing contextual detail. Author's note appended. Bib.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)