Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President

by Ann Malaspina, Steve James (Illustrator)

Overview

Top 10 on the 2013 Amelia Bloomer list

A nonfiction story about suffragist Susan B. Anthony's first trip to the ballot box.

On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony made history--and broke the law--when she voted in the US presidential election, a privilege that had been reserved for men. She was arrested, tried, and found guilty: "The greatest outrage History every witnessed," she wrote in her journal. It wasn't until 1920 that women were granted the right to vote, but the civil rights victory would not have been possible without Susan B. Anthony's leadership and passion to stand up for what was right.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807531891
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	07/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ann Malaspina has written many books for children, including Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper and Finding Lincoln. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.

Steve James has always enjoyed making pictures. Steve received his BFA in illustration from Brigham Young University, where he studied traditional painting techniques. He now lives in Lehi, Utah, with his wife.

Read an Excerpt

Heart on Fire

Susan B. Anthony Votes for President

---

By Ann Malaspina, Steve James

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company

Copyright © 2012 Ann Malaspina
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8075-3188-4

---

CHAPTER 1

The Fourteenth Amendment Passed by Congress June 13, 1866 Ratified July 9, 1868

Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 5: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Rochester, New York, November 1, 1872

Four days to the presidential election. "Register now!" the morning paper said. Susan B. Anthony jumped up to grab her purse and wrap.

Out the door and down the street she flew. Her sister Hannah and friend Mary hoisted their skirts to keep up.

Women couldn't be equal to men if they did not vote. Miss Anthony's heels tapped faster and faster.

At the voter registration office, she marched in like a gust of wind.

This was the moment Miss Anthony had dreamed of for so long. She demanded to register to vote.

The inspectors looked up, shocked and confused.

Only men could sign up to vote. Not women who owned property, paid taxes, held a job, or raised children. No woman was allowed to cast a ballot.

Outrageous. Unbelievable. True.

Miss Anthony believed women did have the right to vote, because of a new law, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

All persons born in the United States the same rights

The inspectors scratched their heads. They argued ... Yes, Miss Anthony's right! debated ...

No, women can't vote! and disagreed. Finally, one man said, "Sign here." It was done. Miss Anthony had registered to vote.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Heart on Fire by Ann Malaspina, Steve James. Copyright © 2012 Ann Malaspina. Excerpted by permission of ALBERT WHITMAN & Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

Top 10 on the 2013 Amelia Bloomer list

"In spare and elegant free verse, Malaspina shares a vivid act of civil disobedience…Inspiring fodder for an electoral—or any other—year."—Kirkus Reviews

"Digital-media paintings depict an energetic, intense figure with pleasant features. Bold splashes of color add vividness to the pages…As another presidential election approaches, this title would be a good addition to voting or women's-history units."—School Library Journal

"A strong, straightforward introduction to an activist kids will return to as they grow older."—Booklist

"James employs in his illustrations the sedate browns, rusts, and deep blues that instinctively connote propriety of times past, but he also interjects a strong undertone of subversive whimsicality in his almost photorealistic faces, allowing other detail to blur slightly into the background while all the attention is focused on the unflappable Anthony and her blustering antagonists."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Steve James' illustrations are brilliantly detailed and expressive. This book will be a great supplement to the elementary social studies curriculum."—Library Media Connection

From the Publisher

Gr 2–4—Concentrating on one incident from her subject's life, Malaspina describes how Anthony voted in the 1872 presidential election, then was arrested, tried, found guilty, and fined. She and her lawyer took the position that the 14th amendment, ratified in 1868, extended voting rights to women. The judge did not agree. The case, however, helped bring attention to the suffragist movement. Although women did not gain the right to vote until 1920, this book demonstrates how Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other early activists were tireless in their efforts. Period photographs of Anthony often present a stern demeanor, but James takes a somewhat different approach. His digital-media paintings depict an energetic, intense figure with pleasant features. Bold splashes of color add vividness to the pages. At one point, the author compares Anthony to Rosa Parks, another woman who challenged a law she viewed as unjust. Although not directly sourced, quotations appear to come from Anthony's writings and historical accounts of her trial. As another presidential election approaches, this title would be a good addition to voting or women's-history units.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

School Library Journal

In spare and elegant free verse, Malaspina shares a vivid act of civil disobedience. Susan B. Anthony registered to vote in Rochester, N.Y., on November 1, 1872. She and 15 other women cast their ballots four days later, hoping that the new 14th Amendment, which stated that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States…are citizens of the United States," would permit all women the right to vote. Instead, she was arrested and brought to trial, found guilty because women were not permitted the vote, and fined $100, which she never paid. James fills the pages with strongly modeled images and many close-ups of Susan's face and the faces of judge, jury, police officers and followers. He makes their faces mobile and intense, so children can feel the force of these ideas as well as hear the words. The refrain, set in larger and alternate type, is "Outrageous. / Unbelievable. / True," carrying the emotion and idea forward in an accessible and powerful way. The book opens with the text of the 14th and 19th Amendments and closes with facsimiles of a newspaper cartoon, a photograph and Susan B. Anthony's letter to her close friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "Well I have been & gone & done it!!--positively voted.…" Inspiring fodder for an electoral--or any other--year. (afterword, bibliography) (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews