You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?

by Jean Fritz

Overview

This biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton is as spirited as the women's rights pioneer herself.

Who says women shouldn't speak in public? And why can't they vote? These are questions Elizabeth Cady Stanton grew up asking herself. Her father believed that girls didn't count as much as boys, and her own husband once got so embarrassed when she spoke at a convention that he left town. Luckily Lizzie wasn't one to let society stop her from fighting for equality for everyone. And though she didn't live long enough to see women get to vote, our entire country benefited from her fight for women's rights.
"Fritz imparts not just a sense of Stanton's accomplishments but a picture of the greater society Stanton strove to change. Highly entertaining and enlightening." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This objective depiction of Stanton's life and times makes readers feel invested in her struggle." — School Library Journal (starred review)

"An accessible, fascinating portrait." — The Horn Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698117648
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	02/15/1999
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	1,026,585
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.26(d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Acclaimed biographer, Jean Fritz, was born in China to American missionaries on November 16, 1915. Living there until she was almost thirteen sparked a lifelong interest in American history.  She wrote about her childhood in China in Homesick, My Own Story, a Newbery Honor Book and winner of the National Book Award.
     Ms. Fritz was the author of forty-five books for children and young people. Many center on historical American figures, gaining her a reputation as the premier author of biographies for children and young people.
     Among the other prestigious awards Ms. Fritz has garnered are: the National Humanities Medal, the Children's Literature Legacy Award, the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award. the Christopher Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Non-Fiction Award, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and many ALA Notable Books of the Year, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, and ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice Awards.
     She passed away on May 14, 2017.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The early women's rights and suffrage advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton is the focus of a readable, accessible biography. She comes alive for middle graders in a narrative with almost novelistic pacing, a dose of humor, and an affectionate point of view. Fritz leads readers almost effortlessly through such important events as the Seneca Falls (New York) Convention in 1848, the impact of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, and Reconstruction and the postCivil War 19th century. Lively, enjoyable fare from a reliable and expert storyteller." —Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Praise for You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?

★ "Fritz imparts not just a sense of Stanton's accomplishments but a picture of the greater society Stanton strove to change .... Highly entertaining and enlightening." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

★"This is Fritz at her ebullient best." -Booklist (starred review)

★"This objective depiction of [Stanton's] life and times ... makes readers feel invested in her struggle." -School library Journal (starred review) 

From the Publisher

Fritz maintains her reputation for fresh and lively historical writing with this biography of the 19th-century American feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), imparting to her readers not just a sense of Stanton's accomplishments but a picture of the greater society Stanton strove to change. Stanton is first introduced in girlhood, mastering task after task in a futile effort to prove to her father that she was ``just as good as any boy.'' Brightly told anecdotes tell of the adult Stanton's excitement in rousing audiences to concern for women's rights; Fritz sets the background by outlining the prevailing social sanctions against women speaking in public. She explores Stanton's responsibilities in raising seven children; her unconventional marriage; her long collaboration with Susan B. Anthony; her attempts to cope with dissension within the women's rights movement. Throughout, the author stresses Stanton's pluck and verve, quoting Stanton's sharp comebacks to ``apple-headed'' men or showing Stanton during the statewide celebration of her 80th birthday, using the attention to excoriate the church for its backwardness (``Susan must have groaned,'' Fritz conjectures). Highly entertaining and enlightening. Ages 10-14. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 3-6-Fritz applies her gift for creating engaging, thorough historical literature to a larger-than-life historical figure. Stanton was a radical among radicals, and this objective depiction of her life and times, as well as her work for women's rights, makes readers feel invested in her struggle. An appealing, full-page black-and-white drawing illustrates each chapter. For students who need a biography, this title should fly off the shelves with a minimum of booktalking. And it is so lively that it is equally suitable for leisure reading.-Rebecca O'Connell, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

School Library Journal