Justice Jackson's Journey
to the U.S. Supreme Court
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Quill Tree Books
(Harper Collins)
(pub.6.20.2023) 40 pages
Author: Kekla Magoon
Illustrator: Laura Freeman
Character: Ketanji Jackson
Overview:
" Ketanji Brown Jackson is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. When a high school guidance counselor told her she should set her sights lower than Harvard, she decided to go to Harvard for college and law school.
When she became a public defender and saw inequalities in the justice system, she used her legal skills to advocate for people who needed help, but couldn’t afford an attorney.
Ketanji’s path to the Supreme Court was unique: She’s the only current Justice to have been a public defender and one of a few who went to public school.
Her story is powerful and heartening, and it’s a lesson in overcoming adversity by being true to yourself."
Tantalizing taste:
" When she accepted the confirmation, she said, 'It has taken two hundred and thirty-two years ... but we've made it.' She added, 'Our children are telling me that they see now, more than ever, that her in America, anything is possible.'
Today, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's star shines as brightly as ever, and now the whole world can see her light."
And something more: Kekla Magoon, in the Author's Note explains that "Leila's [Ketanji's daughter's] letter to President Obama was probably not the main thing that put Judge Jackson on the short list for the Supreme Court – her judicial record would've taken care of that in time – but it is still a great example of a young person being strong and speaking up, sharing their opinion with a person in power. It is not always easy to speak up about the things that are most important to us, but telling elected officials what we think is best for our country is an important part of citizenship, no matter how old or young we are."
How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized
Video Games Forever
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Simon and Schuster
(Paula Wiseman Books)
(pub.8.29.2023) 40 pages
Author: Don Tate
Illustrator: Cherise Harris
Character: Jerry Lawson
Overview:
" Before Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch, there was a tinkerer named Jerry Lawson. As a boy, Jerry loved playing with springs, sprockets, and gadget-y things. When he grew up, Jerry became an engineer—a professional tinkerer—and in the 1970s, he turned his technical know-how to video games.
Back then, if players wanted a new video game, they had to buy an entire new console, making gaming very expensive. Jerry was determined to fix this problem, and despite roadblocks along the way and having to repeat a level or two, it was never game over for his mission. Eventually, he leveled up and built a brand-new kind of video game console: one that allowed players to switch out cartridges! He also founded Video Soft, Inc., the first African American–owned video game company in the country."
Tantalizing taste:
" After a few more calculations and measurements, he whipped out a pair of scissors and ... clip! He shortened the cord of the joystick controller by two inches. This game-changing idea reduced the noise and fixed the problem!
GAME ON!"
And something more: I'm always interested in what inspired authors of picture book biographies to choose their subject. Don Tate, in the Author's Note, explains that "One day a librarian I follow on Twitter, Elizabeth Bird, suggested someone ought to write about Jerry Lawson. I started researching that same day. I was intrigued with the subject because, as a kid, I was both an ardent tinkerer myself and a player of early video games. I'd never heard of Jerry Lawson."
Carrie Chapman Catt's Voice for the Voice
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Union Square Kids
(pub.7.11.2023) 48 pages
Author: Jasmine A. Stirling
Illustrator: Udayana Lugo
Character: Carrie Chapman Catt
Overview:
" As a child, Carrie Chapman Catt asked a lot of questions: How many stars are in the sky? Do germs have personalities? And why can’t Mama vote?
Catt’s curiosity led her to college, to a career in journalism, and finally to becoming the president of The National American Woman Suffrage Association. Catt knew the movement needed a change—and she set to work mobilizing women (and men) across the nation to dare to question a woman’s right to vote.
On August 18, 1920, Catt pinned a yellow rose to her dress and waited while lawmakers in Tennessee cast their deciding votes to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. After a seventy-year campaign, had women finally won the right to vote? "
Tantalizing taste:
"Happy tears wet suffs' faces.
Yellow rose petals fluttered through the air.
Carrie's heart
beat
beat
beat with relief and exhaustion and gratitude.
Silently, she let the news sink into her bones."
And something more: I'm always intrigued by the research supporting a picture book biography. Jasmine A. Stirling in the Author's Note explains that "I spent several years researching Carrie's life, pouring over her letters at the Library of Congress, getting photos of her room from the historian at the Hermitage Hotel, consulting queer history, and tracking down and collaborating with a descendent of Harry T. Burn [the lawmaker who received a letter from his mother, a follower of Carie Chapman, and changed his vote, the decisive vote, to YES]."
