Stacey Abrams and the fight to vote

Todd's artfully conceived biography of activist and politician Stacey Abrams arises from an intriguing premise. When voting rights in contemporary Georgia are threatened, the disruption awakens a heavenly chorus of iconic Black women elders who moved the needle on civil rights: Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Septima Poinsette Clark. From "that faraway place where the ancestors sit," the four review the history of voting rights and narrate Abrams's life, from her early love of reading and "learning big, juicy words," to her attending Atlanta's Spelman College, and, finally, her loss in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, during which thousands of voters were disenfranchised. Freeman's airbrush-style digital art leans into portraiture while visually bridging the astral divide, evoking yearning, frustration, and sisterly pride in their ongoing mission of purpose. Endnotes include brief bios of the figures mentioned, and a voting rights timeline. Ages 4--8. (Aug.)

What would Stacey Abrams' Black political female predecessors say to her if they were alive today? Todd and Freeman bring this scenario to life in their creative biography of Georgia-based politician Abrams. Voting rights champions across two centuries--Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Septima Poinsette Clark, and Fannie Lou Hamer--speak to one another about Abrams as they reflect on the barriers that national and state governments have systematically erected to prevent specific populations from voting. While the text focuses on the Black vote, the backmatter describes many other groups that have been excluded from voting throughout American history. This biography begins with Abrams' parents, who also, growing up in the Jim Crow South, faced obstacles that required courage and tenacity to overcome. Abrams' parents taught their children to take care of one another and took them to the polls every election to show them that voting was how to take care of your community. The daughter of a librarian, Stacey loved books and using "big, juicy words." As the book traces Abrams' successes at Spelman College and her political accomplishments, the brightly colored digitally rendered illustrations, featuring striking portraits of Abrams and others that fill the page, emphasize her determination despite disappointments, and the more faded images of her political predecessors remind readers that they speak from the past. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A brilliant introduction to a powerful Black female politician and voting rights activist. (author's note, biographical notes, voting rights timeline, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.