It’s election season! On November 5, 2024, we’ll head to the polls to make our voices heard for who we want to preside over America, represent our state in Congress, or decide on any pressing referendums. Casting a vote, however, has not been an easy journey for Black Americans or women. It’s been a long fight, and some of the books listed tell the stories of historical figures like John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ida B. Wells, who took on the challenge to secure voting rights for all. There is also contemporary voting activist Stacey Abrams, a woman with an in-depth knowledge of voting laws—a knowledge partly responsible for the state of Georgia helping to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020. As a result, Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated by Biden, is now the first Black woman justice to sit on the Supreme Court.
This is an exciting time to have the opportunity to elect the first Black and South-Asian woman for president, Kamala Harris. Three picture books on this list tell her story. For teachers, parents, community leaders, and more, the books featured are excellent for enjoyable reading, classroom and family discussions, history lessons, and community sharing. Part II of It’s Time to Vote will feature chapter, middle-grade, and young adult books for older readers.
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1. Stacey Speaks Up
Stacey Abrams | Kitt Thomas | HarperCollins | September 24, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
2. Etta Extraordinaire Goes to the White House
Roda Ahmed | Charnaie Gordon | Chloe Burgett | HarperCollins | September 10, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
3. The Day Madear Voted
Wade Hudson | Don Tate | Nancy Paulsen Books | July 9, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
4. Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis
Lesa Cline-Ransome | James Ransome | Paula Wiseman Books | January 9, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
5. Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote
Dinah Johnson | Jerry Jordan | Little, Brown/Ottaviano | January 2, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
6. Your Voice, Your Vote
Leah Henderson | Keisha Morris | HarperCollins | December 19, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
7. Loud and Proud: The Life of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm
Lesa Cline-Ransome | Kaylani Juanita | Paula Wiseman Books | September 19, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
8. The Walk
Winsome Bingham | E. B. Lewis | Harry N. Abrams | September 12, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
9. Justice Ketanji: The Story of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Denise Lewis Patrick | Kim Holt | Orchard Books | August 1, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
10. Ketanji: Justice Jackson’s Journey to the U.S. Supreme Court
Kekla Magoon | Laura Freeman | HarperCollins | June 20, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
11. Ketanji Brown Jackson: A Justice for All
Tami Charles | Jemma Skidmore | Simon & Schuster BYR | April 4, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
12. All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson
Carole Boston Weatherford | Ashley Evans | Crown BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
13. Put On Your Shoes and Get Ready!
Raphael G. Warnock | TeMika Grooms | Philomel Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
14. Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm’s Fight for Change
Tameka Fryer Brown | Nina Crews | Millbrook Press | November 1, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
15. Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice
Sarah Warren | Monica Mikai | Lee & Low | September 6, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
16. Stacey Abrams and the Fight to Vote
Traci N. Todd | Laura Freeman | HarperCollins | August 30, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
17. Barack Obama: A Little Golden Book Biography
Frank Berrios | Kristin Sorra | Golden Books | August 2, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
18. Evicted!: The Struggle for the Right to Vote
Alice Faye Duncan | Charly Palmer | Calkins Creek | January 11, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
19. Because of You, John Lewis: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Keith Henry Brown | Scholastic Press | June 7, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
20. Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress
Alicia D. Williams | April Harrison | Anne Schwartz Books | June 1, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
21. Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice
Nikki Grimes | Laura Freeman | Atheneum BYR | August 25, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
22. She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Eric Velasquez | Lee & Low Books | August 4, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
23. Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb
Veronica Chambers | Rachelle Baker | Dial Books | July 28, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
24. Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea
Meena Harris | Ana Ramírez González | Balzer + Bray | June 2, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
25. Superheroes Are Everywhere
Kamala Harris | Mechal Renee Roe | Philomel | January 8, 2019 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
26. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Carole Boston Weatherford | Ekua Holmes | Candlewick | August 4, 2015 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
27. Granddaddy’s Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box
Michael S. Bandy | Eric Stein | James E. Ransome | Candlewick Press | July 14, 2015 | PB | Amazon |Bookshop
28. Child of the Civil Rights Movement
Paula Young Shelton | Raul Colón | Schwartz & Wade | December 22, 2009 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
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