Too often, women have been left out of history books. This year, I’ve joined with three other female authors to celebrate our books that put a spotlight on the different, powerful ways women have used their voice to make a positive difference. Vivian Kirkfield’s Making Their Voices Heard (illustrated by Alleanna Harris, little bee press) shares the little known story of how film icon Marilyn Monroe and singing star Ella Fitzgerald helped each other achieve their goals. You can read my interview with Vivian here.
Rita Lorraine Hubbard’s The Oldest Student (illustrated by Oge Mora, Schwartz & Wade), introduces us to Mary Walker, who learned to read at 116, showing it’s never too late to make dreams come true . My Beautiful Shades of Brown (illustrated by Felicia Marshall, Creston Books/Lerner Books) illuminates how Laura Wheeler Waring used her paintbrush to fight for civil rights.
And now, in the THE KIDS ARE ALL WRITE, I’m turning the column over to Beth Anderson, whose Lizzie Demands a Seat! (illustrated by E.B. Lewis, Boyds, Mills & Kane), tells the story of an African American woman who fought back when ejected from a streetcar because of her race, a century before Rosa Parks became famous for refusing to give up her seat to a white man.
You can read more about how Vivian, Rita, Beth and I are supporting each other’s books in this Here Wee Read column. But for now, I want to turn your attention to Beth, who loves digging into history and culture for undiscovered gems, exploring points of view, and playing with words. The author of An Inconvenient Alphabet (illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, Simon & Schuster, 2018), Beth is a former English as a Second Language teacher who has always marveled at the power of books, she is drawn to stories that open minds, touch hearts, and inspire questions. Born and raised in Illinois, she now lives in Loveland, Colorado.
Welcome, Beth to THE KIDS ARE ALL WRITE!
What inspired you to write this book?
When I first encountered Elizabeth Jennings’ story of how, after being ejected from a streetcar in 1854 in New York City, she climbed back on, I was in awe of her courage and tenacity. Her statement describing the incident revealed an extraordinary woman in a time and place I knew very little about. I wanted to know more – about how she became who she was, about the traditions and laws surrounding race, about how this event related to where we are today. When we think of the Civil Rights Movement, we think of the 1950s and 60s, but this piece of history shed a whole new light on it and showed people fighting for the right to ride for more than a century. And when I learned about how kids, inspired by her story, persevered to honor her legacy with a street named for her, I was all in! She clearly inspired kids. And since we all learn about Rosa Parks, that also serves as a great connection point for Lizzie’s story. Elizabeth Jennings’ story just had so much potential to explore.
What was the biggest challenge and what kept you going when the journey seemed uncertain?
This was one of my early manuscripts, so everything was a challenge, and it was a huge learning experience. In the midst of revisions, I began to understand that a biography needs a “so what?” (Thank you, Barb Rosenstock!) and every story needs a “vital idea” (Thank you, Candy Fleming!). So my biggest challenge became finding my unique way of telling Elizabeth Jennings’ story. To me, it was more than a story of one woman’s fight for rights, there was a connection through time and to others. While I had a vague “vital idea” in my gut, I struggled with weaving it through the story. Through a healthy number of rejections, I kept revising, encouraged by my critique partners who kept pushing me forward, encouraged by family and friends who believed this was an important story, and later, encouraged by my agent who believed in the manuscript’s potential through more rejections. Also, all the learning I was experiencing, about both history and writing, as I revised and researched deeper and wider exposed new ideas and deepened my commitment and connection to this person from the past. Seeing her grit and perseverance, how could I give up on her story? (Indeed, our manuscripts are always teaching us so much more than writing skills!)
What’s the most important thing you hope children will learn from your book?
My deepest hope is that children will understand that we are all connected and all have a role to play in eliminating racism and establishing social justice. As I struggled to focus my “vital idea,” I found an article about the “hero narrative.” It talked about how kids are not well-served by the typical hero narrative which leaves them believing that we can wait for these extraordinary people to come along and fix our society for us. We definitely need these heroes, but they also need the rest of us. They inspire, teach, and embolden us as they lead the way. History shows us that change is a process. It’s work, demands courage, and would happen oh-so-much-faster with fuller participation. I hope kids will notice all the people that stood in the background and didn’t speak up for Lizzie. I hope they’ll see how she was inspired by those who came before her and how she inspired those who carried on the fight to ride. And with the example of how kids fought to recognize Elizabeth Jennings, I hope they will see that you can be a changemaker no matter how old you are.
You can visit Beth’s website for a free downloadable Educator’s Guide here and her Classroom Activity: A Path of Inspiration here.
On Kid Lit TV here
IndieBound Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million Amazon
Beth’s website: bethandersonwriter.com
On Twitter: @BAndersonWriter
On Instagram: @BAndersonWriter
On Pinterest: @BAndersonWriter
Facebook: Beth Anderson
Beth Anderson: Lizzie Demands a Seat!
Lizzie Demands a Seat! by Beth Anderson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis (Boyds, Mills & Kane)
Rita Lorraine Hubbard: The Oldest Student How Mary Walker Learned to Read
Rita is a former special education teacher and the author of THE OLDEST STUDENT (illustrated by Oge Mora, Schwartz & Wade, 2020), HAMMERING FOR FREEDOM (illustrated by John Holyfield, Lee and Low, 2018), and AFRICAN AMERICANS OF CHATTANOOGA (The History Press, 2008). A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, she has made the celebration of unsung heroes her passion, and her work appears in The Tennessee Women Project and Salem Press’ Great American Lives: African American.
Vivian Kirkfield: Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe. .
Vivian Kirkfield loves bringing history alive for young readers. A former kindergarten teacher with a masters in Early Childhood Education, her non-fiction picture books include SWEET DREAMS, SARAH: FROM SLAVERY TO INVENTOR (illustrated by Chris Ewald, Creston Books, 2019) and MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: THE INSPIRING FRIENDSHIP OF ELLA FITZGERALD AND MARILYN MONROE (illustrated by Alleanna Harris, Little Bee Books, 2020). Born and raised in New York City, Vivian has lived in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut, the wide open spaces of Colorado, and now resides in the quaint little village of Amherst, New Hampshire, where the old stone library is her favorite hangout and her grandson is her favorite board game partner.
Nancy Churnin: Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring
Nancy Churnin’s eight picture book biographies have won the Sydney Taylor Notable, South Asia Book Award, Anne Izard Storytellers Choice Award and Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, been honored on numerous state reading lists and been translated into Japanese, Korean, Braille and multiple languages in India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. A former theater critic for The Dallas Morning News, Nancy is an alumna of Harvard, with a masters from Columbia. She lives in North Texas.
