The Firefly Letters.

Engle, Margarita. The Firefly Letters.

Henry Holt 2010 151p 16.99

978-0-8050-9082-6 ms/hs E-BN

It is 1851 and Frederika Bremer is a writer and a woman on a mission for women’s rights. She was looking for simple place to stay in Cuba so that she could write. What she found would change the lives of two women and give her insight into what women need to liberate themselves. In 1851 there was still slavery in many countries and Cuba was not any different.
Frederika Bremer is a woman looking for place to quietly write her thoughts, her observations and her stories. Raised as an aristocrat, Frederika asked the Swedish consulate to find her a simple home in Cuba. Instead she was sent to a rich family’s home and although surprised Frederika discovered a complexity of life involving women and their freedom and giving plenty food for thought on women’s rights.
Cecilia the slave girl became a companion to Frederika because she was able to speak English as well as Spanish. In this way she found freedom in the ability to move around freely with the foreign mistress. They both took pleasure in releasing the fireflies as others captured them and placed them in jars to die.
Elena the daughter of the house found herself a prisoner of her own house and society rules as her mother found their house guest to have to much freedom in her everyday movements. As Cecilia found freedom in her own way, Elena watched from the window at her lack of freedom envying the slave and wondering what freedom really was. Frederika observed both girls and tried to find a way to help them both in way that would be acceptable for society and for the family.
Told in the form of a poem this wonderful story of freedom and discovery will have you wondering about the term of freedom and what it really means. Diaz,Magna

Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Kent, Deborah. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Enslow 2010 128p 31.93
Americans-Spirit of a Nation(Enslow)
978-0-7660-3357-3 ms/hs VG-BN
Examines the life of women's rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, including her childhood, her tireless battle for women's suffrage, and her legacy in American history. After reading this biography of women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one wonders why her image wasn’t paired with Susan B. Anthony’s on the silver dollar. The two women worked together for fifty years on a variety of issues, including women’s suffrage and the temperance movement. It was Stanton’s written speeches that Anthony delivered, thus spreading the message of women’s rights, yet Anthony appears to be considered the sole force behind women’s suffrage. Since Stanton frequently seems to be overshadowed by Anthony, this biography of Stanton should be required reading for any student researching the foundations of the women’s rights movement. Stanton’s dedication to women’s rights began with a remark by her father who, when she tried to comfort him over the death of her only (surviving) brother, told her he wished she were a boy and although she excelled in her studies, it was for naught in her father’s eyes. Her father’s law office provided Stanton with ample opportunities to see firsthand how the law treated women, which further deepened her determination to change was she saw as a fundamental flaw in human rights. Her marriage to abolitionist Henry Stanton and her close association with her cousin Gerit Smith, also an abolitionist, introduced her to other well-known figures who would later influence and assist her in her struggles for equality for women. Stanton is perhaps best known for organizing, along with Mary Anne McClintock and Lucretia Mott, the Woman’s Right’s Convention in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848. Here Stanton delivered her most well known speech, _The Declaration of Sentiments_. The speech was composed by Stanton and other like-minded women and as the author notes, “it changed the course of history.” The force of Stanton’s personality and her beliefs shine through in every chapter. The facts of her life are interwoven with the history of the women’s movement and placed in the context of what society expected of women at that time. To trace the arc of Stanton’s life is to examine the spark that ignited the fight for women’s rights, rights which many of us today take for granted. Many women who toiled with Stanton to advance women’s rights are given their due accord as well, and none more than Susan B. Anthony. Some of Stanton’s beliefs, as outlined in The Women’s Bible, were unpopular but that did not stop her from her passionate stand for women’s rights. This readable, informative biography is an inspiration and a reminder of a dedicated woman who stood up for what she believed. Sidebar text boxes and photographs and other illustrations are included, as is a Table of Contents, a chronology, Chapter notes and an index. Most noticeably absent is a copy of the The Declaration of Sentiments and in the Further Resources suggestion, a link to the Stanton-Anthony Papers at Rutgers should have been included. Zajko, Rosanne

Van Meter, Larry A. Women Win the Vote

Van Meter, Larry A. Women Win the Vote.
Enslow 2009 128p 31.93 978-0-7660-2940-8 ms/hs
America's Living History#9 (Enslow)

Overview of the history of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. Includes background and biographical material, as well as a time line of the suffrage movement up to and including the Nineteenth Amendment. Fact and photo-filled overview of the Women’s Suffrage movement in the United States. Each major personality in the movement is profiled, and background information is useful and factually accurate. Cover is appealing to younger readers, and content is accessible. Difficulty terminology is explained, although no glossary is provided. A time line of the movement, chapter notes, bibliography and index complete the volume. Photos and illustrations are mostly in color, and are strategically located within the text. Colorful text boxes highlight useful background material and/or biographical profiles. A useful resource for research at the middle grades through early high school. PN