forced to pick cotton from daybreak to nightfall-right here in this country where it is written that ‘all men are created equal’” “the cross burning on the lawn of her girlhood home, set aflame. In her mind’s eye she sees her “great-great-grandparents Elijah and Sarah…standing side by side on an auction block” “her great-grandpa Edmund. She takes small, slow, determined steps up, all the while contemplating the metaphorical steps taken by her predecessors that afforded her the right to vote today. On the opening (end paper) double-page spread, centenarian Lillian stands at the base of a hill that leads to her polling place. Peretz Community Jewish School, Somerset, NJ VERDICT A powerful historical picture book.- Jill Ratzan, I. An author’s note provides historical context, including information about the woman who inspired Lillian (Lillian Allen, who in 2008 at age 100 voted for Barack Obama), and ends by reminding readers that protecting voting rights is still an ongoing issue.
The story concludes on an emphatic note, with a close-up of Lillian’s hand on the ballot lever. Smith Jr.’s 28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World (Roaring Brook, 2015), symbolizes hope as it travels across the sky. A bright yellow sun, which readers may recognize from Evans’s illustrations in Charles R. Lillian is portrayed in resolute left-to-right motion, and her present-day, bright red dress contrasts with the faded greens, blues, and grays of the past, sometimes in a direct overlay. The illustrations, though, are what truly distinguish this offering. Winter writes in a well-pitched, oral language style (“my, but that hill is steep”), and the vocabulary, sentence structure, and font make the book well-suited both for independent reading and for sharing aloud.
As she climbs the hill (both metaphorical and literal) to the courthouse, she sees her family’s history and the history of the fight for voting rights unfold before her, from her great-great-grandparents being sold as slaves to the three marches across Selma’s famous bridge. Lillian may be old, but it’s Voting Day, and she’s going to vote.
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