I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

This book is a wonderful introduction into Fannie Lou Hamer's life and the amazing work that she did especially for early chapter readers. I learned a lot and was proud of all she accomplished in her life.

I used to hear my mama talk about her all the time, and several times in college but I never took out the time to actually read about her and her story. Her story was so inspiring considering the time we’re actually living in. She was a beautiful, intelligent and incredible woman. I remember my mama and professor talking about her bravery and how she helped the community by inspiring them for black equality.

As our stories are never erased it causes great sadness to re-read about all the horrific details our people faced and how cruel the individuals were that brought on these tragedies to us.

Fannie Lou Hamer showed resilience, and strength in this bio, it really showed how she cared about the black race and how she wanted black Americans to vote and have a higher education. One of the most inspirational things she did was, she was never afraid to speak out and she used her voice to speak up for our culture.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the eArc to read and review.

This biography series for Young Readers, ages 6-9, brings an inspiring character – Fannie Lou Hamer – who dedicated her life to civil rights movement. She is an inspirational symbol of strength and persistence.

Fannie Lou grew up during segregation in the US. She also grew up in a large family. She was the youngest of twenty siblings. Thus, she learned how to speak up for herself early on.

Fannie loved going to school and learning, but she also had to help her parents pick cotton. Thus, during the summer time, she worked in the fields and during the winter time, she went to school. While at school, the division between white and “colored” was the first injustice she experienced. But at thirteen, she had to help her aging parents full time, and stopped going to school at all.

In 1944, she got married and with her husband continued to work as sharecroppers. Fannie was the timekeeper as she was the only worker who could read and write. Soon, she noticed that the plantation owner was paying less than what the time card showed. That was another injustice she recognized.

In 1961, she went to hospital to have a surgery and the doctors removed an organ without her permission. That was another injustice she experienced.

In 1962, she learned about the right to vote, but it was very challenging for black people. She became active in helping black people register. Later, joining an activist group and becoming its leader, speaking up or even singing at the meetings.

This biography brings truly an inspiring character who wasn’t held back by anything as she knew how to connect with a large number of people. She understood their problems as she shared the same problems and injustices. Her life was dedicated to making her state a fair state for all. She became an important voice for equality and justice.

The book is divided into short chapters and written with simple language to make it accessible for young readers. The issues and what Fannie stood up for are presented in accessible way for the target audience.

The Story of Fannie Lou Hamer, written by Margeaux Weston, is a brilliant biography of her life for young readers. This biography details her life and how she used her voice for change, after all of the injustice she experienced and saw. This biography comes complete with a quiz and a glossary of terms. I would recommend this biography to 8-15 year olds. It is a must have for the classroom.

I loved the ongoing timeline to keep up with the story. I thought the quiz at the end was a great way to engage and cement the information you learn in the book!

A very successful and perfectly easily-read biography of Ms Hamer, one of the (to my mind) lesser-known black rights activists of the 1960s. Forced out of school to supplement her parents at their cotton picking, she was determined to get parity for her kin, both as regards a fair pay and in voting rights. From these pages the latter was her main concern, but she also had to work on de-segregating the health system and schools, and built up a community farm, as well as running for almost as many public posts as she could, to prove and sustain enfranchisement. The telling here is rather on the repetitive side, but it doesn't completely suffer from that – far from it, as it joins the occasional timelines, quotes, questions to the reader and the closing quiz as a way to make this very easy to learn from.

This is an awesome book! There was a lot of information packed into a short book, but it wasn't overwhelming at all. It's impressive how the author found such a perfect balance between information and enjoyment. The stunning and highly detailed illustrations helped to create this ideal balance. The pictures were simple yet still stunning and well-done.
Generally, this book was very educational, and I even learned a few things! Additionally, the author made this book age-appropriate for young readers (but chapter book age), while still expanding readers' vocabularies. Even further, the way this book was written and organized definitely encourages readers to think on their own experiences by asking thought-provoking questions every one in a while. This inspires readers to reflect in order to make a difference in their own communities. This is a wildly important characteristic in books for impressionable young readers, because this audience is full of people who will inevitably change the world.
This book is all-around perfect! Bravo!

Thank you so much to Callisto Publishing/ Callisto Kids and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Fannie Lou Hamer what an incredible woman, I knew of her but I didn’t know much about her so, when I saw this book I wanted to read it. I’m so glad that I did this woman was so brave, she fought for everyone in her community, she inspired and she encouraged. She wanted equality and she wasn’t going to stop until it was given to every black person in America.

I’m in shock honestly that I didn’t know more about her prior to reading this and I was heartbroken reading all the horrific injustice she faced at every turn, all the racist people cropping up to hinder and hurt so carelessly. It never stops amazing my mind how cruel people are and have been through history. As someone that personally loves history and reads about these horrific events constantly it still blows my mind that it ever happened.

This was such a wonderfully detailed biography of this wonderful woman, she was such a strong brave, very loving and caring woman who wanted every black person to have a decent life, to get to vote and have their say, to fight for higher education, to be part of the law makers and to be paid efficiently for their hard work. She did all that and much more, speaking out, being an activist for everyone, a strong voice within her community. I admire her so so much, she’s incredible and I’m so happy that she existed.

The illustrations were really beautiful to look at for each chapter, seeing her in different eras of her life. I also loved that at the end you get to see the real photos of her and what she really looked like. This book is so full of information and I throughly enjoyed learning about Fannie Lou.

I thought that this book was great and it is a wonderful introduction to Fannie Lou Hamer, her strength of character, determination and courage through adversity and what she achieved and the influence that she had on Black voters to stand up and be heard, and counted.

Fannie is a fascinating character and as the book shows, she showed an incredible strength of character and determination to help others have a voice. Fannie was a strong advocate of Black voices and passionate about making sure that they were heard in the local communities as well as wider afield, she is definitely inspirational.

It is 5 stars from me for this one - very highly recommended!

As someone who only learned about Fannie Lou Hamer once I was in college, I’m *so* glad to see such an engaging and informative biography on her for kids!

Weston tells Hamer’s story brilliantly, contextualizing everything from her family’s past enslavement to her future impact on leaders like Stacey Abrams — all the while making it accessible for children without watering down the crucial, objective facts and the emotional realities of racism. The illustrations are also beautiful! The timeline and question prompts throughout the book, as well as the quiz and comprehensive glossary at the end, make this a perfect introduction to Hamer’s remarkable life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.