Readers are introduced to Matilda Young. History says she was the youngest suffragist to actively fight for women's rights. She was one of a family of four sisters and one brother. Her older sisters became part of the protests in Washington, D.C., by the National Women's Party. As Matilda watched, she saw the importance of the movement and began picketing with the women in front of the Whitehouse.
Matilda's parents worried about their young teenage daughter as she put her own safety on the line to fight for change. She didn't picket at first. She helped organize the picketing schedule, prepared the banners the women carried as they walked and stood in front of the White House, and offered them food and drink when their shifts were over.
Matilda eventually joined the women on the front lines of the protest. She was hired by NWP to answer phones and other communication. She was arrested numerous times and joined a hunger strike in jail that threatened her life.
Author Marcie Flinchum Atkins uses verse to chronicle the years of picketing and protest that eventually led to the successful adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment. It was a hard-fought battle, and Matilda Young was in the thick of it.
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