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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

“A very old woman stands at the bottom of a very steep hill. It’s Voting Day, she’s an American, and by God, she is going to vote. Lillian is her name.” An informative picture book covers an expanse of history and emotion as 100-year-old Lillian ascends the hill, reflecting on African Americans and voting. Her great-great-grandparents were sold on the auction block in front of a courthouse where only white men could vote. Her great grandfather, her grandfather and uncle, her parents, and Lillian herself lived through times when the right to vote existed in theory but was denied in fact or pursued with great risk. Lillian remembers struggles and losses of the Civil Rights Movement, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, after which she cast her first ballot. Her ascent is a metaphor in which the struggle is tangible, palpable (“my, but that hill is steep”). Her encounter with a young man whom she asks, “Are you going to vote? … You better” is one of many powerful moments. Shane W. Evans’s layered art skillfully distinguishes present from past and is full of its own rich symbolism. (Ages 7–10)

CCBC Choices 2016 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016. Used with permission.

From Horn Book

September 1, 2015
On the opening (endpaper) double-page spread, centenarian Lillian stands at the base of a hill that leads to her polling place. She takes small, slow, determined steps up, all the while contemplating the metaphorical steps taken by her predecessors that afforded her the right to vote today. In her mind's eye she sees her great-great-grandparents Elijah and Sarahstanding side by side on an auction block; her great-grandpa Edmundforced to pick cotton from daybreak to nightfallright here in this country where it is written that all men are created equal'; the cross burning on the lawn of her girlhood home, set aflamejust because her parents want to vote. Winter weaves a good amount of African American history and civil rights information throughout his earnest tale of one family's tragedies and triumphs: Though her feet and legs ache with one hundred years of walking, what fuels her ancient body is seeing those six hundred people beginning a peaceful protest march from Selma to Montgomerypeople who, though they don't know it yet, will be stopped on a bridge in Selma by policemen with clubs. Evans's distinctive angular, textured mixed-media illustrations spotlight Lillian's family members and the tale's historical eras; purple-clad Lillian also appears in every scene, moving steadily onward and upward in order to claim her own place in history. An appended author's note tells more about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 then and now. Pair this with Bandy, Stein, and Ransome's Granddaddy's Turn (rev. 7/15). elissa gershowitz

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from August 3, 2015
Winter (How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz) introduces an elderly African-American woman whose walk up a steep hill to cast her ballot doubles as a metaphor for the struggle for voting rights. En route, miragelike figures from the past appear in the background, including Lillian's great-great-grandparents, shown in shackles at a slave auction. She remembers moments of progress and protest as she walks, such as the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment and the march from Selma to Montgomery, and she also hears echoes of her uncle describing the impossible literacy test questions he was forced to answer at the polls. Winter's prose has a lofty, oratorical quality ("As long as Lillian still has a pulse, she is going to voteâ€Â"and so she keeps on climbing"), skillfully blending Lillian's individual path to the voting booth with the historical context that made it possible. Evans (28 Days) is equally adept at balancing the political and the personal, giving Lillian a stateliness and evident inner strength. A valuable introduction to and overview of the civil rights movement. Ages 5â€Â"9. Illustrator's agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

From Booklist

Starred review from July 1, 2015
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* An elderly woman stands at the bottom of a steep hill, determined to walk to the top to cast her vote. As she climbs she recalls significant people and events that have led her to this day: her great-great-grandparents being sold at a slave auction, her great-grandpa picking cotton, her uncle failing unfair voting registration tests, her parents being deterred from the polls, cross burnings, civil rights marches, and, finally, the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Evans' mixed-media illustrations both complement and extend Winter's poignant text. The use of full-bleed color spotlights Lillian and contemporary events, while memories are depicted in a muted, less finished style. Readers will also note how the sun signals the passage of time, as the story moves from dawn to moonlit night. An afterword details the story's inspirationAfrican American Lillian Allen, who voted in 2008 at age 100and notes how the 1965 Voting Rights Act has been diminished by a 2013 Supreme Court decision. Simple yet powerful, Lillian's narrative transforms a complex topic into an affecting story suitable for a younger audience, making it a perfect introduction to voting and civil rights. An important book that will give you goose bumps.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

From School Library Journal

Starred review from June 1, 2015

Gr 1-4-Lillian may be old, but it's Voting Day, and she's going to vote. As she climbs the hill (both metaphorical and literal) to the courthouse, she sees her family's history and the history of the fight for voting rights unfold before her, from her great-great-grandparents being sold as slaves to the three marches across Selma's famous bridge. Winter writes in a well-pitched, oral language style ("my, but that hill is steep"), and the vocabulary, sentence structure, and font make the book well-suited both for independent reading and for sharing aloud. The illustrations, though, are what truly distinguish this offering. Lillian is portrayed in resolute left-to-right motion, and her present-day, bright red dress contrasts with the faded greens, blues, and grays of the past, sometimes in a direct overlay. A bright yellow sun, which readers may recognize from Evans's illustrations in Charles R. Smith Jr.'s 28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World (Roaring Brook, 2015), symbolizes hope as it travels across the sky. The story concludes on an emphatic note, with a close-up of Lillian's hand on the ballot lever. An author's note provides historical context, including information about the woman who inspired Lillian (Lillian Allen, who in 2008 at age 100 voted for Barack Obama), and ends by reminding readers that protecting voting rights is still an ongoing issue. VERDICT A powerful historical picture book.-Jill Ratzan, I. L. Peretz Community Jewish School, Somerset, NJ

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

Starred review from May 1, 2015
In a book commemorating the Voting Rights Act of 1965, readers are introduced to 100-year-old black Alabaman Lillian, who recalls her long-delayed journey to exercise her American right to vote 50 years ago. As Lillian climbs the "very steep hill" to the courthouse to vote, she reminisces about the struggles that African-Americans faced and overcame on the way to the passage of the historic law that dismantled the widespread exclusionary practices that African-Americans encountered to that point and guaranteed their right to vote. She's reminded of the legacy of slavery that her great-grandparents Edmund and Ida survived and of the 19th Amendment, which allowed women to vote, yet angry mobs of white locals forced her parents to back away, holding little Lillian by the hand. She pauses to recall the actions in Selma, 1965. She arrives at the voting booth and presses the lever. In Evans' mixed-media illustrations, a stooped Lillian makes her slow way up the hill as the tableaux of history play out on the page. She is dressed in vibrant colors, contrasting with the faded, translucent historical images. A burning cross figures in one powerful spread; another joins 100-year-old Lillian to her 50-years-younger self at the gutter, emphasizing her determination to claim her rights. A much-needed picture book that will enlighten a new generation about battles won and a timely call to uphold these victories in the present. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

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