Drawing the Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Voting in America

 Jenkins, Tommy. Illustrated by Kati Lacker. Drawing the Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Voting in America. 2020. 198p. ISBN 978-1-4197-3998-9. Available at 324.6 JEN on the library shelves.

The right to vote is enshrined in the United States Constitution, but this right has been severely limited for many people over time. When the Constitution was adopted, only White men who owned property could vote. The franchise was expanded to all White men in the 1800s. Women could not vote until the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1920. Though the Civil War freed all the slaves, States continued to prevent them from voting. African Americans were effectively disenfranchised until 1965 when the Voting Act was passed, guaranteeing them access to the ballot box.

Even so, many challenges remain that prevent people from voting. In Drawing the Vote, Jenkins and illustrator Lacker present a history of voting in the United States and the struggles that surrounded providing and enforcing the right the vote for different constituencies. The back and white illustrations are crisp and convey appropriate emotion and information. Drawing the Vote does not mince words when it comes time to assign blame for voter suppression, and point out how the culprits achieved their goals of denying the franchise to certain people.

Fans of history will appreciate the thoroughness in which the history of voting is presented, and will have a better understanding of how our voting system works.

The Boy in the Black Suit

Reynolds, Jason. The Boy in the Black Suit. 2015. 255p. 468 mins. ISBN 978-1-44245950-2. Available both as an audiobook from Overdrive and at FIC REY on the library shelves.

Matthew Miller just lost his mother to cancer. She died quickly, and she died young. At 17, Matt is entering his senior year of high school rudderless. His dad started drinking again, leaving Matt to fend for himself, both physically and emotionally. The gap his mother's death left behind is impossible to fill.

With a light school schedule that is done at noon, Matt looks for after school work. The money will come in handy, especially since his father can't seem to regain his senses and drop the bottle long enough to go to his job. He goes to the local fast food restaurant and asks for an application, but then is saved from greasy work by Mr. Ray, the owner of the local funeral home. Mr. Ray provided the funeral service for his mother.

Matt is at first scared of working with dead bodies, but on the first funeral he works he discovers that the experience of attending someone else's funeral can be very cathartic. Plus you can meet extraordinary people in this line of work, including local legends, and even Love. Along the way, Matt will find redemption and healing for others as well as for himself, and will realize that dead people can still teach valuable lessons.

Fans of boy reads will appreciate Matt's depth and the struggles he faces as a half orphan. His friendship with Mr. Ray blossoms into a mentor/mentee relationship, which allows him to grow as an individual and to find peace with the tragedy that affected him.

The Star-Touched Queen

Chokshi, Roshani. The Star-Touched Queen. Book 1 of the Star-Touched Queen series. 2016. 342p. 562 mins. ISBN 978-1-42727298-0. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive. 

Born in the harem of the Raja of Bharata, Maya has always been considered cursed by the other inhabitants of the harem. When her horoscope was drawn, it was foretold that her marriage would bring death. As a result she is considered bad luck, has no friends and no hopes of marrying. Maya spends her time avoiding the politics of the harem, her tutors, and eavesdropping on her father's Council. 

Spying on her father and his Council one day, she learns that she's about to be married off to one of her kingdom's enemies in hopes of settling peace. She is stunned. She does not want to marry and does not want to leave Bharata. She plans for escape, but is instead imprisoned until the wedding. The night before, her father visits her and reveals that his plan was to use her as bait and draw their enemies here. Under the guise of a ceasefire to celebrate a wedding, the Raja fully expects his daughter to not go through with it and poison herself instead, allowing him to break the ceasefire and deal with the leaders of enemy kingdoms.

Unfortunately his enemies have spies, and they brought their own soldiers. On the day of the wedding, Maya is presented to the attendees, and when she leaves to make her choice, war breaks out. Maya is rescued by an enigmatic king who takes her away to the supernatural land of the Night Bazaar, before bringing her back to his kingdom of Akaran. King Amar wishes Maya to become his equal. Amar has secrets, however, and he asks her to wait until the new moon before he can reveal them.

Enough information is available, however, and Maya soon realizes that Amar is the Agent of Death himself, and she has just joined him! Monsters haunt the kingdom. The dead travel through its halls on their way to a new life. And whispers tell her that Amar intends to sacrifice her. With her life in danger, Maya must decide whom she can trust. How do you escape from death itself?

An Indian retelling of the myth of Persephone and Hades, Maya seems to be making bad choices one after the other, yet in the end manages to redeem herself and the kingdom. Fans of mythology will appreciate the descriptive world the author created and will enjoy Maya's struggles and eventual triumph as she finally finds her voice.

The Jungle

 Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. 335p. 797 mins. ISBN 978-1-8843-6530-0. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Jurgis Rudkus is Lithuanian. Born in poverty in his country, he meets a beautiful girl named Ona Lukoszaite. Looking to escape their condition and seeking opportunity in the land of plenty, they along with others from their village pool the little money they have and immigrate to the United States. Traveling to Chicago, they quickly find work in the meatpacking industry. 

Packing Town, as the area they settle in is known, is very poor. It is drab, lonely, polluted, and one of the harsher environment they have ever been in. Jurgis is strong and dedicated, so they are convinced they will escape the fate that afflict many around them. They purchase a house, to avoid paying rent. They are confused when the people around them bitterly complain about the bosses who drive them ever further towards exhaustion. Don't they just need to work harder?

Jurgis and the rest of his group do not realize that the deck has been stacked against them. Their house is poorly isolated. The two-mile walk to work in the winter is hell. The factories are either too cold, too hot, or too wet. It is dangerous work where people get hurt or killed all the time. Women are exploited and abused. Jurgis and Ona disenchant very quickly about their new lives, but they have no more money and must continue to work.

Layoffs and accidents take a toll on the family friends. When Jurgis discovers that Ona has been forced to have an extramarital affair with her boss, he goes into a rage and attacks the man. This lands him in jail, and with the absence of their breadwinner, the family loses their house and their investment. Jurgis spirals towards the depth of despair. Ona dies in the childbirth of their 2nd son. Their first son dies in an accident. The group breaks up and goes their own way. 

Jurgis travels away in the summer, but returns to Chicago for the winter. He joins a political machine, and for a while his star rises. But an encounter with the same man who abused his wife Ona once again lands him in jail, and this time it is even harder to rebound. In the depth of despair, Jurgis discovers socialism, and after living through workers' hell for two years, he now understands what is attractive about socialism.

First published in 1905 as a serial then in a heavily censored book, The Jungle nevertheless forced changes at the federal level. Laws were passed to control the quality of food, work conditions, and the more blatant abuses that happened in the slaughter houses. An indictment of crude capitalism, The Jungle remains relevant today for the lessons that it provide about workers' right and economic abuse by the rich.

Like No Other

 LaMarche, Una. Like No Other.  2014. 368p. ISBN 9781595146748. Available at FIC LAM on the library shelves.

New York City has always been divided by invisible lines. Race, religion, wealth, sexual orientation, all of these elements allow people to find others with similar interests, but also serve to build barriers and keep those who are different apart. 

In Brooklyn, one such neighborhood is clearly divided by race and religion. On one side of the neighborhood are the Hasidic Jews with large families and orthodox views. On the other side, African Americans and immigrants trying to capture the American dream. The two groups rarely mix.

Devorah is a good Hasidic girl. When her sister Rachel delivers her baby at 18, Devorah is there to support her at the hospital, since her parents are away on business. A storm causes the power to go out, and Devorah finds herself stuck in the elevator for an African American male teenager. Jaxon came to hospital with his best friend, who broke his arm performing a skateboarding stunt designed to impress a girl. 

At first the two of them are quiet, but Jaxon quickly breaks the glass. Devorah panics. It is not okay for a good girl to talk to a boy without a chaperone present. As they find common interests and similarities in their lives, however, they begin to fall in love with each other, something both of them are aware could be very dangerous if their respective communities found out.

Following their chance encounter, Jaxon and Devorah find ways to meet again and even exchange kisses. Devorah's strict upbringing and stricter father, however, does not approve. Worse, Rachel's husband, a nosey busybody, tries to get Devorah in trouble, claiming he is worried for her soul. Jaxon, for his part, lies to his parents and sneaks around their back, saying he is with his best friend while he is in fact with Devorah.

Planning a weekend getaway, the two of them are caught, and Devorah is exiled upstate to a Hasidic reform center where it is expected she will rejoin the fold. Devorah is not interested, however, and wishes to escape the strict constricts of her religious faith. Jaxon, meanwhile is desperate. How can he find her? With the two separated by more than distance, can they manage to bind their love together?

Look to the Mountain

 Cannon, LeGrand. Look to the Mountain. 2016. 496p. ISBN 978-1-58157-365-7. Available at FIC CAN on the library shelves.

Whit and Melissa live in Kettleford, New Hampshire, in the late 1760s. Although settled for many years, Kettleford retains the feel of a frontier town. Whit is the son of a local farmer who prefers the rum bottle to hard work. Melissa is the daughter of the local inn keeper, and one of the few eligible women in the village. Whit has had his eye on Melissa for a long time, but so has Joe the Portugese, a sailor from Europe who bought the smithy when its former proprietor retired.

A contest to see who could hay the most grass for the honor of courting Melissa is organized, and despite Joe's underhanded tactics and physical attack on Whit, the young man manages to hay the most. Desiring a better life for himself and for Melissa, Whit takes off not long after to explore settling possibilities in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He soon locates a good spot in the new township of Tamworth, builds a lean-to, and after having made friends with residents of Sandwich, the township next to Tamworth, he returns to Kettleford.

Meanwhile, Melissa, who had been left behind, feels Whit's absence more with every passing day. Joe still lurks in the background, and her father decides to marry her to Joe while Whit is gone. Whit returns just in time, and the happy couple is united in marital bliss and leaves the next day to make the trek to their new land.

Populated with remarkable characters, Look to the Mountain nevertheless manages to throw most of its focus on Whit and Melissa's struggle to survive at the base of Mount Chocorua as they pioneer the opening of the Tamworth township. Encompassing part of the early history of New Hampshire and of the nascent United States, the book is short on dialog (as if people were of few words back in those days) but rather filled with description of the environment in which Whit and Melissa live. Slowly over the course of years they manage to tame and conquer their small corner of the world, building a life for them, their children, and their friends.

Fans of historical fiction will appreciate the details that craft an amazing tale first told in 1942 and republished many times since.

Royals

Hawkins, Rachel. Royals. 2018. 296p. 482 mins. ISBN 978-0-525-63200-9. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Daisy has looked forward to her summer trip with her best friend all year. Unfortunately her family has to uproot when her perfect sister announces her engagement to the Crown Prince of Scotland. For someone like Daisy, being in the spotlight of the tabloids, newspapers and social media is almost as bad has having to abandon her Florida home to find herself in a dreary world of rich and idle teens.

Daisy is then matched with Miles, the Crown Prince's younger brother, in the hopes that he can quickly teach her how the court works. Miles, however, finds himself in trouble more often than not, and he regals the tabloids with his antics. Along for the ride, Daisy finds herself becoming the source of scandals, which distracts from her sister's upcoming wedding. Can Daisy regain control over her precarious situation at court and become the lady everyone expects her to be, or will she be able to tear out the royal rulebook and remain her quirky self?

A delightful romance set in a fictionally independent Scotland, Daisy and Miles dance around each other throughout the book, not exactly sure where each other stands. Their fears and hopes are realistic and easily relatable, even if the setting is not. Fans of rom-com will enjoy this easy read.