Michael Dooling

I thought this was a very nice short story about a little girl learning about the struggles women go through to fight for equality. Lily is a solid character; The book is too short to do much character-building, but we see her cheering on her grandmother's cause without really thinking too much about it, and then we see her experiencing that same "females can't do these things!" discrimination, and she takes a stand. For such a short book intended for young readers, I think it's well-written and gets the point across.… (mehr)

A Long Way to Go, by Zibby O’Neil, is a work of historical fiction by Zibby O’Neil. It is the story of Lila, a young girl in the midst of WWI America. The year in 1917, and although the war rages on in Europe, at home, in New York City and Washington D.C. the war for Women’s Suffrage rages. The book is centered around Lila discovering her own desire for the right to vote. Her Grandmama is a suffragette, and gets arrested for protesting at the beginning of the book. This gets Lila to thinking about the social inequalities of men and women, and she decides to join the fight.

This book is very short, and it does not have dramatic pauses. It moves quickly and holds the reader’s interest. It is perfect for kids from grades two through five. One thing I found frustrating was that it did not feel historical, but rather more present day. This is for a few reasons. For one, the illustrations did not feel like they were from 1917. Lila’s portrayal is too moody and pushy. For example, on page 41, she is portrayed speaking with her father, but her stance is pushy and snotty, hands on her hips. That is not how a young girl would behave toward her father, in public, in 1917. In the book, she does not act that way, so the picture does not match the actual event of the book. I found them distracting.

Secondly, Lila does not feel like a realistic character. Sometimes she is thinking quite carefully about the topic and wearing her ladylike glove, the next she is punching out her friend for thinking she is delicate, then screaming on the street corner, selling newspapers. The story just felt like someone had written a fake history story with only a real understanding of people today.… (mehr)