The road from slavery to the Voting Rights Act is told through one woman’s story, as she reflects on the people and events of the civil rights movement that got her to the voting booth. Author’s Note.

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous! Beautiful bright colours, and I loved the concept of Lillian seeing her ghostly ancestors on her walk to the polling center. I also really love that, while the book has an optimistic ending, the afterword mentions that new voter id laws in some states are restricting certain citizens from voting, and that there is more work to be done to secure the same right to vote for all citizens across the country. ( )

I was introduced to Lillian during a family story time—part of the "Leaders Make Readers" campaign—this summer via Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) for which I actively volunteer.

This is an excellent children's picture book chronicling voting rights in a straightforward step-by-step walk through MC's family history. The Author's Note at the end mentions the 2013 SCOTUS decision that allowed many states to enact harmful voter ID laws. ( )

The authors did a fantastic job celebrating the moments leading up to Lillian's right to vote. Lillian Allen, a one hundred years old woman, is voting for the very first time. As she walks to the voting building, she recalls all the moments in history which led up to her being able to vote. African Americans were discriminated for many, many years by being asked to pay extra voting taxes, given lengthy impossible tests, and being chased and tormented by angry mobs of people all while trying to express their right to vote. Lillian recalls all the marches and Reverand Martin Luther King, President Lydon Johnson, and many more influential people in history that allowed her to be standing in the voting booth. The illustration of Lillian making her climb to vote is a perfect representation for all the struggles African Americans faced for their voting rights. We have come a long way! ( )

Lillian is a 100 year old African American woman who fought for the right to vote. Throughout the book, it discusses the history of voting and how only men were allowed to vote and it explains the troubles women had gone through trying to vote. I would use this book to lead discussion on the history of voting with my students. This book is filled with history and enlightens students on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. ( )