The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From School Library Journal

October 2, 2020

Gr 5-8-This guide to America's voting history is divided into three parts: "The Stories of How We Got the Vote," "Know Before You Vote," and "How to Get People to Vote." The first part details the history of voting in the United States and the struggles everyone-except for property-owning, white men-have endured in procuring the right to vote. These chapters are dry and uninspiring. The second part explains the importance of voting and discusses topics such as polling and the role of the press in politics and voting. The language is at a middle-grade reader's level. The chapter focusing on the Electoral College is a standout. The final section could engage younger readers when the text examines the "influencers" behind voting and their methods to encourage voting. Chapters like "Young People and Voting" and "Studying Voters: What Gets Them to the Polls?" will speak to readers who already feel a calling to student government. Older middle-grade students who have clear memories of the 2016 election may reflect on their personal experiences and feelings. This could be valuable when applied to ethics or civics lessons. Students could study the 2020 election and voting awareness campaigns, which could lead to discussions on the success or failure of those coordinated efforts. VERDICT This title may not be at the top of your circulation reports, but it will serve a purpose when needed.-Kim Gardner, Fort Worth Country Day Sch., TX

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

May 15, 2020
Smith posits that the only voting problem we have in America is that not enough people do it. It's an important topic, as her research shows that each generation votes at rates lower than the one before it. Divided into three sections, her book tracks the history of the right to vote among groups of people such as African Americans, women, and others. The next covers innovative get out and vote movements. Lastly, readers get a lesson in often-confusing voting topics like gerrymandering, the Electoral College, and polling. Each chapter includes tales of voters who made an impact, from former slaves to modern-day moms. Smith also tackles social media and tips for identifying misinformation. The book concludes with a handy checklist for voting, walking readers through important steps in being an informed voter. In an election year, this book will have wide appeal. As the author says, Figuring out the best way to achieve the largest turnout should have nothing to do with one side or the other and everything to do with supporting democracy. This book is non-partisan, but it is staunchly pro-voting. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

From Library Journal

May 15, 2020

Journalist Smith's debut serves as both a history of voting rights in the United States and an instructional tool for voters. Smith balances the historic struggles for voting rights, including the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, with issues of voting suppression and intimidation that are currently affecting modern voter turnout throughout the country. She addresses some of the difficulties surrounding voting in America, which she contends are partly to blame for low voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election, wherein more than half of the nation's adults did not vote. This book also serves as a primer on challenges to American democracy including gerrymandering and issues with the Electoral College, and it highlights movements and activists across the U.S. who are working toward change. Included in the back matter are checklists for voters on how to prepare for election day and a sample voting pledge for friends and family. VERDICT Smith's resource will appeal to those looking for a short introduction to voting rights; readers will appreciate her hopeful message forecasting a nonpartisan future of increasing voter participation.--Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

May 1, 2020
Thinking of not voting this time out? Smith's handy owner's manual to the democratic process removes any excuse for not showing up at the ballot box. The author hails from small-town Texas and lives in New York City, places respectively conservative and liberal but that she characterizes as equally fearing "that their wants and needs will be ignored if their candidate doesn't win," which of course is no way to run a representative democracy. Neither is the steady decline of voting. As Smith notes, every generation votes in fewer numbers than the one preceding it, and minority voters turn up at the polls in fewer numbers, proportionally, than white voters. There's irony to such disparities given the long battle to secure voting rights for minorities. The author reminds us that a white woman born in 1900 would have been allowed to vote at age 21 while "an African American born at the turn of the 20th century and living in the South may not have cast a ballot on Election Day until she was 65 years old." Smith serves up a youth-friendly--though by no means youth-restricted--guide to understanding not only one's rights as a voter, but also such thorny constructs as how polls work (badly, too often) and how gerrymandering keeps districts that should go to one party going to the other instead. Usefully, she provides a timeline of what to do not just to vote, but to bring one's cohort along for the ride: First thing is to register to vote, then "choose five friends to join you to vote." Then, 40 and 30 and 10 days before the election, be sure those friends know how to vote, whether in person or by mail, where the polling place is, and other such practical matters. Intelligent, spirited, and especially valuable to budding activists and first-time voters.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

April 13, 2020
Journalist Geiger Smith's instructive debut combines a brisk history of voting rights in America with a comprehensive guide on how to vote, and how to convince others to do the same. She details the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 and subsequent efforts to disenfranchise black voters, and offers a refreshingly frank look at the campaign to win voting rights for women, acknowledging the racist tendencies of some white suffragists, while still celebrating their grit and accomplishments. Addressing the state of voting today, Geiger Smith highlights such organizations as We Vote Next, which educates young voters on the issues, and individuals including Andaya Sugayan, who visits high schools in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas to register young voters. Geiger Smith also discusses the negative impact of gerrymandering, and explains how to identify trustworthy news sources in order to get the most reliable information before deciding how to vote. Her illuminating and accessible account concludes with a checklist of items to complete before voting. This is an excellent resource for first-time voters and activists hoping to motivate young people to get to the polls. Agent: Daniel Kirschen, ICM Partners.

From AudioFile Magazine

Lisa Cordileone uses an appropriate pace and cadence in narrating this accessible and highly informed audiobook. She does a fine job navigating the thickets of politics and partisanship, and nicely captures the author's engaged reportorial voice. She also takes the right tone--explanatory yet interrogative--for a text that spans the centuries, with excellent sections on the Know Nothings and gerrymandering, as well as backstories on the passing of amendments on voting issues. A number of proposals for changing the Electoral College are put forward. But the author stops short of endorsing any of the various suggestions for drastic change. Her focus is to invigorate the process--to prod folks to the polls. This audiobook provides a primer on ways to get out the vote. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine