Member Reviews
Finish the Fight! By Veronica Chambers is an incredible book. It is full of incredible content, formatted in short biographies. I think this will be helpful for students of any age and parents will enjoy it as well. A great resource for classrooms and libraries.
The publisher made a copy of this book available via Netgalley. This is my honest review.
Finish the Fight posits that suffrage history needs both a makeover and a wider lens. "This is not a boring history of nagging spinsters; it is a badass history of revolution staged by political geniuses." Yes!! Finish the Fight focuses particularly on women of color (specifically African American, Native American, and Asian American), as well as gay women, who fought for the vote as part of a broader struggle for gender equality. These women have not always been represented in the traditional suffrage storyline ... or in the legislation that has signified "equality." And the book itself is stunning! Don't miss the Illustrator's Note; Ellen Duda explains the meaning behind the plants and flowers shown in each chapter. This excellent work of nonfiction for young readers (grades 3+) is an especially fitting read on the 100 year anniversary of the 19th amendment.
A great addition to school libraries. This book brings a new look at women's history and women's suffrage. A great supplement for 5th grade standards and one I can see students choosing to read on their own. The cover will get readers interested and the words are empowering.
This is a nice anthology of short biographies of women suffragists. It's especially noteworthy because it includes women of color, who have been notably absent from the conversation about women fighting for equal rights. Each chapter details the lives and efforts of different women. This would make a good purchase for libraries seeking to build up the social justice section of their library.
Veronica Chambers and the NYT staff have outdone themselves! The amount of work put into this powerful collaboration is truly inspirational. This book commemorates the 100th anniversary of the women and stories of said women who changed America for the better and fought for the 19th amendment. Not only do you hear of more well-known suffragists like Susan B. Anthony, but we also hear of lesser-known suffragists who made big changes like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. The illustrations that are embedded throughout are lovely and the color scheme is vivid and quite unique. I am looking forward to seeing this book in our library and sharing about the work that went into it as well.
I absolutely loved this book. Veronica Chambers brings to the center that the right to vote for minority women did not automatically happen with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. This book focuses on the minority women who fought for their peoples' rights. I love the care that was taken in explaining the history of each woman. The artwork is vibrant and well done as well. I highly recommend this book!
Finish The Fight is a book full of amazing content. It acknowledges the names that we have heard throughout history, but throws in the stories of the many Black, Native American, Latinx, and Asian women who were involved with the struggle suffrage. Told as mini-biographies, this is a great way to see the wider perspective of the fight for women’s suffrage. (Ages 8+)
When people think of the passing of the 19th Amendment, most people probably only think about Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. But there were so many more people involved with the movement, including many women of color, African American, Latina, Native American, Chinese, the list goes on. This book gives short biographies of the many women who played a role in the suffrage movement.
I give this book a 4 for content. But I would give it a 3 for execution. I do like the fact that each woman had their own chapter, so you could learn specifically about them and their history and contribution. However, I think it would have been helpful to have a general timeline in the beginning to provide reference, to make it easier to see how all the stories weave together.
I received a digital ARC of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.
Finish the Fight! is such a fantastic resource for both teens and adults. In this book, Chambers introduces the reader to a number of Black, Latinx, Native American, Asian, and Queer suffragists who fought for the right to vote. If you are looking to expand your knowledge of women's suffrage, I highly recommend this book.
This book would make an excellent addition to any library, including classroom libraries grade 3 and up. Each chapter focuses on a little know female who had a major part in the women’s right to vote moment. Very interesting! I would love a copy for my library! Each chapter could be read aloud on its own!
Thanks @netgalley for the eARC.
Thank you Netgalley for an advanced ebook copy of this title!
This is a beautifully designed book that tells the story of many of the unsung heroines of the movement for women's suffrage. I can't say I was very familiar with any of them other than perhaps Ida B. Wells. I appreciated that the book brought so many diverse perspectives and stories of Black, Native American, Latinx, and Asian women to the table, and showed the divisions within groups and among each other were all challenges along the way to the 19th amendment. The collage illustrations incorporating primary source material along with the comic-book style portraits throughout the book were also a treat.
Finally, a celebration of the unsung heroines of the suffrage movement, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Finish the Fight! is quite possibly the most comprehensive, approachable, inclusive look at the radical fight to secure votes for women. Over 117 years of the Women’s Rights movement are covered from the 1848 Seneca Falls convention through the Equal Rights Voting act of 1965.
I can't wait to recommend this to young readers at my library. This book presents short biographies of some lesser known suffragists. The book covers the fight for black women's votes, the influence of Native governance and Native women's fight for the vote, the role of queer women in the movement, and the contributions and suffrage struggles of Asian and Mexican immigrants. Some of the chapters are more robust than others (the chapter on queer women is particularly weak), but overall the book presents a clear and tremendously readable deeper (than usual) dive into the movement. The text deepened my knowledge of the women I had already heard of, but definitely introduced me to a lot of women I hadn't! I'm definitely going to download some of the books these women have published (in the public domain!), specifically the poetry of Frances E.W. Harper and the memoir & stories of Zitkála-Šá. I am also really excited to read the finished book because most of the illustrations are there (and flippin stellar!!) but there are a few missing that I really want to see.
Finish the Fight is a beautiful book for school-aged children about the women who helped the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution come into existence. Even as an adult reader, I was familiar with some who spearheaded the suffragette movement like Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Staton but this book highlighted many more who played an integral role whom I wasn't familiar with.
The book discusses specifically how Native American Women played a part and inspired what equality should look like, and how women of all backgrounds, especially Black and Asian women joined the fight to get women the right to vote... and how the fight continued until ALL women were guaranteed that right.
The illustrations in this book are simply stunning and incorporate mixed media with photographs and drawings. This is sure to help make the history of our country's women more engaged as they learn, and there is even a game board included for interactive learning.
All history books should be like Finish the Fight! It's perfect to teach kids history or for adults who want to add a beautifully illustrated and approachable book to their feminist collection.