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Greenwald, Karen

A Vote for Susanna: The First Woman Mayor

32 pp. | Whitman | October, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-8075-5313-8 $16.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-8075-5314-5 $9.99
(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sian James. This story begins in 1934 Norman, Oklahoma, as a grandmother and her grandson are preparing to bake a birthday cake. When the boy shares his self-conscious worry ("I want to help, but my friends said only girls bake"), Grandma Dora launches into the story of "the world's first woman mayor," elected in 1887 Kansas. The cartoony illustrations evoke the Old West and feature a determined Susanna Madora Salter...who, her grandson (and readers) learns, is actually Grandma Dora. The fictional framing story is a bit awkward, and why Susanna was put on the ballot as a prank isn't clear. Nonetheless, this book brings to light an early and largely unknown example of women's rights and leadership, challenging preconceived notions about women's roles in American history.
Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

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