Cover Image: She Votes

She Votes

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Member Reviews

This one was just ok. If you like something in a conversational style, this one might be for you; but I just don't think it delves deep enough.

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I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I admit in my joy at joining NetGalley I may have been overzealous in my requesting numbers. As this book has already been published, I am choosing to work on the current upcoming publish date books in my que. As I complete those I will work on my backlogged request and will provide a review at that time. I again send my sincere thanks and apologies.

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An interesting read that I'm glad to have discovered. I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author.

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I loved everything about this brilliant book - the illustrations, the history, the layout of both! Really appreciated that Quinn was able to show the importance of key figures and events within the history of women's voting rights, while also highlighting the downfalls and errors of the times. Incredibly fun while also being incredibly educational, this would be a great read for anyone interested in the history or who identifies as a feminist, but especially for an older middle schooler and parent to read through and discuss. Excited to see what Quinn writes next.

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This is a charming and fun book to engage teens with the topic of women's suffrage. Language can be a bit PG-13 in places, so teachers proceed with caution, but all in all, it's a fun retelling of stories that should not be forgotten.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

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I was provided an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Such an important and informative read - especially this close to the election. It was well researched and I appreciated the gorgeous illustrations coupled with fascinating stories that have rarely come to the mainstream. While it chronicles suffrage from a historical perspective, it also includes stories of women living today who are dedicated to gender equality. In no way was this a dry history of women's suffrage, rather it was colorful, diverse, and accessible. Highly recommend.

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This was a great read with amazingly beautiful illustrations.

The information is well-researched and the way history (or herstory) is told makes it easy to follow and understand. I loved getting a more thorough view of this topic.

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Couldn't have loved this book more. Quinn's curation of fantastic art pieces really add to the overall book, perfectly complementing the history she offers. Timely and great!

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Suffragists Past and Feminists Present

The first thing you notice about this book is how colorful it is. We don't normally think about colorful illustrations in a serious book meant for adults, but I think it adds a really nice touch. This book takes a look at the history of the suffragist movement from its earliest days, looking at key people that you have heard of and a few that you might not have associated with the suffragist movement, as well as how we carry on their spirit today. I like that the author added her own little commentary here and there. This is no dry history book. I particularly liked reading the story of Mary Cassatt as I had no idea of some details shared; I had always just been a fan of her artwork, as I am a big fan of the Impressionists in general and liked that she cracked the boys’ club, so to speak. I appreciated learning about not only the movers and shakers of feminism’s distant past but also ones who have lived (and are living) within my lifetime, women who are fully stuck into continuing the work of gender equality through to contemporary times. Given that it is an election year as I write this review, the choice of the title resonates with me. We need to remember how hard our foremothers (and even some forefathers) fought for our right to let our voices be heard in the political world, allowing us to help shape our country’s future. Let's make sure that we honor their struggle and sacrifice, and let our voices be heard, loud and proud, at this and every election.

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π™°πšπ™² πšπ™΄πš…π™Έπ™΄πš†: β€œπš‚πš‘πšŽ πš…πš˜πšπšŽπšœ: π™·πš˜πš  πš„.πš‚. πš†πš˜πš–πšŽπš— πš†πš˜πš— πš‚πšžπšπšπš›πšŠπšπšŽ, πšŠπš—πš πš†πš‘πšŠπš π™·πšŠπš™πš™πšŽπš—πšŽπš π™½πšŽπš‘πšβ€œ
πš‹πš’ π™±πš›πš’πšπšπšŽπš πš€πšžπš’πš—πš— (π™°πšžπšπšžπšœπš 𝟸𝟢𝟸𝟢)

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Thank you to @chroniclebooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC copy ahead of publication this month.

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Summary β€” As the title would suggest, this book is about women’s suffrage in the US. How does it differ from all the others on similar topics? It is intersectional, covering underrepresented figures and peoples in American history, and does so in an informal dialogue. More importantly (to me), the amazing (and I mean STUNNING) artistic designs by 100 women (meant to correspond with 100th anniversary of Nineteenth Amendment to US Constitution).

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Review β€” While I can’t show the art ahead of its publication, let me tell you: this book will be gorgeous in print. A diverse collection of artists brought to life elements of history in a stunning and beautiful capacity.

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As for the writing style, it is not 100% to my taste, but it is by no means bad. In fact, the writing is praised often as β€œaccessible” meaning it’s not overly academic. It’s conversational, it’s got a curse word or two. Honestly, the art makes up for my lukewarm reaction to the text. At some points, I was bored; whereas, some portions had me captivated and amused (how could I be amused at such content?! Haha!). I do appreciate the conscious effort to include often β€œforgotten history.” Meaning, there are people, in this case BIPOC women, and events that are often glanced over in mainstream history discourse. Not currently, as there are now more resources and attention to this, hopefully ensuring that the whole story gets told.

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Who’s It Good For? β€” All in all, this is worthy book for celebration. I am still LOVING all of the art. Just wow. And I think this would make an excellent read or gift for anyone, but especially: 1) feminists, 2) women, 3) fans of art, 4) fans of history, 5) younger readers who may not be keen on reading, 6) anyone who wants to know more about the struggle to gain suffrage. βœ¨πŸ’«

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This is a well-researched, informative book about women’s suffrage, complete with beautiful illustrations throughout. I knew a bit about the history of women gaining the right to vote and their progress and setbacks in the political world since then, but I loved getting a more thorough overview of the topic highlighting many of the trailblazers over the course of the last century.

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My favorite thing about this book is the illustrations. They are a variety of styles of art, all very colorful and dramatic. My least favorite thing was the tone of the book. It was done very I'm-guessing-at-people's-thoughts-and-feelings. Author kept saying, "I imagine". And she may very well be right but it felt heavy handed.
The book does talk about early suffragettes as well as abolitionist movements, and does touch on many historically important and historically forgotten women.
The book was interesting at times and droned on at others. I had a hard time accepting it as fully factional since so much of it came across as supposition.
Not a bad read. I would say worth checking out but consider other sources.

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This book is a perfect primer for the history of American Feminism. I couldn’t put it down. The illustrations are so visually appealing. I would gift this to any teen/tween who’s interested in feminism or politics. This should be a must have on shelves

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She Votes by Bridget Quinn
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

235 Pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date August 11, 2020

History, Nonfiction (Adult)

I love the three quotes at the beginning of the book. The forward of the book is written by Nell Irvin Painter. The book is described the book as an intersectional work. She talks about how she felt when the vote returns were coming in for the 2016 presidential election. I can relate to her level of anxiety. She discusses the roots of the Women’s March with a nod to a previous march in 1913. It is inclusive and contains many voices on different topics.

Chapter 1: Seneca
Chapter 2: Voices Carry: Sojourner Truth
Chapter 3: Enter Anthony
Chapter 4: Winning the West: Sacajawea
Chapter 5: Bloomers, Bicycles & Basketball
Chapter 6: The Art of Protest: Mary Cassatt vs. The Antis
Chapter 7: Deeds Not Words
Chapter 8: Early Arrival: Jeannette Rankin
Chapter 9: Law Breaking to Law Making
Chapter 10: War of the Roses
Chapter 11: Women Are People Too: Betty Friedan
Chapter 12: Picture This
Chapter 13: Running Strong: Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink
Chapter 14: Lesbians & Liberation: Audre Lorde
Chapter 15: First Person Female
Chapter 16: Represent: Guerrilla Girls
Chapter 17: Year of the Woman
Chapter 18: Third Wave: Riot Grrrl
Chapter 19: Young Americans

I was impressed with the vast amount of research done to create this book. The author did a wonderful job acknowledging all the women. The writing style was more like listening to a conversation instead of a dull reference book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about women’s right to vote and the prominent women that pushed for it to pass. Hopefully, we will be celebrating the passing of the ERA in the upcoming years.

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We need as many representations of the suffrage story as we can get - and all its facets - and this on eis an excellent one.

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History has taught us that rights are hardly served on silver platters. You have to fight for it. The women suffrage in America is also one such right that has been fought for by numerous women. It is the result of innumerable struggles that every woman in America today enjoys the right to franchise.

The author Bridget Quinn has summarized the history of this struggle in her upcoming book- She Votes- How U.S Women Won Suffrage and What Happened Next, a book that will celebrate the 100 years of equality at its release in August.

Quinn has brought to notice and has questioned the racial discrimination that was practiced (most ironically) in equality movements. Bridget Quinn wants to portray that all American women are American and nothing else.

The book is supposed to be about history, but it is more than that. It not only stops at 1920, it extends to the after struggles of women. We have an illustration in the book that tries to encompass major movements like equal pay for equal work and MeToo.

She Votes is an entire package for someone who is willing to know the essence of the American woman suffrage movement. Quinn starts the journey from 1776 and then sketches the way forward to the 2016 US Presidential elections and much forward till the present time. Quinn seems to be passing on the history of women’s movement to the present generation to carry forward the torch of raising voices for inequalities.

She Votes is an inspiration for today’s world; for today’s fight for equality.
It’s a must have book for every feminists’ desk. Because it not only lays bare all that has been achieved, but also imparts loads of inspiration for upcoming struggles for equality.

The review has been cut short because of its length. The link to the full review is shared below:
https://medium.com/@nidhisinha1947/a-century-to-womens-suffrage-in-usa-b4134da8cb2

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This book was even better than I expected it to be. I loved the layout with the photos of the women that were being discussed. I found it pleasing to the eye. There is so much great information in this book. Despite having taken some women's history classes, I found a vast amount of knowledge in this book that I was not aware of. I wish everyone would read this book. I can't recommend it enough!

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Bridget Quinn writes in a very accessible way speaking directly to readers and using colorful language. So this is not your traditional dry history on a topic. She also makes sure to cover all the not great parts about Women's suffrage-racism being one of the biggest. Quinn dives deeper into the suffrage story that you already know, not just detailing the people we remember today like Susan B. Anthony, but all the other players as well. She also details fascinating facts like Oregon rejected women's right to vote 5 times! (58). The first woman was elected to Congress in 1917, which was before women in the entire US had the right to vote (95). Women were jailed for protesting at the White House, and then during a hunger strike force-feed, which is considered a form of torture (111). Sadly there was also a group of women against the vote, and Quinn points out, "it seems ironic today that there were women so determined not to vote that they protested the possibility, organized, and were in effect politically active in hopes of defeating political engagement by women" (78). The book ends with a look at how women continued to speak out from 1920s to the present day. The illustrations are lovely, and done by 100 female artists. This is a fantastic history of women's suffrage in the US.
I received an advanced uncorrected digital galley from the publisher via Netgalley. Page numbers are from this galley and may not be the same in the final book.

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Author Bridget Quinn is great and her previous book - Broad Strokes - is awesome. This s a book you purchase for your kids to learn about important women and events in the history of US voting. I enjoyed the book but think the book could be enjoyed by children from age 8 and up.

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The artwork in this book is fantastic! The subject matter is especially prescient now and the author delves into parts of history that are often ignored (or sometimes deliberately suppressed). The book was particularly engaging and informative!

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