Jeannette Rankin: First Lady of Congress - Hardcover

Marx, Trish

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689862903 ISBN 13: 9780689862908

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2006

Synopsis

I've been trying to help women have better lives, using the laws we already have. But what if the laws are wrong, or don't go far enough?"

So was the thinking of Jeannette Rankin before she decided to run for Congress, years before most women even had the right to vote.

Growing up a small-town girl in Montana, Jeannette showed courage and initiative, helping to run her family's ranch and daring to go to university at a time when most women did not even finish high school. She was bright and well-educated, but it wasn't until a visit to her brother in Boston -- where she glimpsed the harsh realities that women and children faced in the slums -- that she knew what she wanted to do with her life.

Immediately she got to work, helping in settlement houses and working with orphaned children, but Jeannette wanted to give women the power to better their own lives -- so she shifted her focus to suffrage and ran for Congress. On November 9, 1916, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman to win a seat in the House of Representatives. While in office, she continued her fight for women's rights and also bravely advocated for peace during World War I. Jeannette Rankin was a true pioneer in women's rights and an undeniable force behind the peace movement in America.

In this historical account, Marx's candid text and Andreasen's finely detailed illustrations work together to capture the strength and spirit of one of America's most inspirational leaders.

About this title

About the Author

Trish Marx is the author of several award-winning books for children, including Touching the Sky: The Flying Adventures of Wilbur and Orville Wright, co-written with Louise Borden, a winner of the Association of Booksellers for Children Choices Award and a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies; Everglades Forever: Restoring America's Great Wetland, a selection on the 2004 Book Links Favorites List; and Reaching for the Sun: Kids in Cuba, the recipient of the 2003 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. She lives with her family in New York City.

Dan Andreasen is the illustrator of numerous picture books, including By the Dawn's Early Light: The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner by Steven Kroll, which was named an ABA Kids' Pick of the Lists and a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies; A Quiet Place by Douglas Wood; and Sailor Boy Jig by Margaret Wise Brown. He has also authored several picture books, including With a Little Help from Daddy and A Special Day for Mommy. Dan lives with his family in Medina, Ohio.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. Rankin is someone children should know: the first woman to sit in the House of Representatives, and the only female to vote for woman suffrage in Congress. Marx does an excellent job introducing her, in occasionally lyrical prose: "Jeanette Rankin was born in Montana--/ Big Sky Country. / The sky was as blue as the feathers on a blue jay's back." The use of short sentences, almost free verse, keeps explanations short and simple, but sometimes the technique works against providing added information, especially in the later chapters when Rankin, as an advocate of nonviolence, votes against the U.S. entry into World War II. Still, this is a full biography that traces Rankin's life from the Montana wilds and her work for social causes to her terms as congressional representative from Montana. Andreasen's art raises this above many picture-book biographies. Handsome watercolors alternate with drawings that resemble the work of George Dana Gibson. These pencil sketches, on buff-colored paper, evoke a time past. The disconcerting lack of source notes or even a bibliography is surprising, but this offers much to report writers and browsers alike. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0689862903
• ISBN 13: 9780689862908
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Andreasen Dan