On April 7, 2022 the nomination by President Joe Biden of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court was confirmed in the United States Senate. There is cause for jubilation as she is the first Black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Out of 115 justices serving on the Supreme Court in history, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the sixth woman (and 116th justice). Upon her swearing into office, another marker in history will be met. For the first time in the 233-year history of the Supreme Court, four women will serve together.
Women's History Month 2022 may have concluded one week ago, but April 7, 2022 and other accomplishments by women are to be celebrated as often as possible. Nellie Vs. Elizabeth: Two Daredevil Journalists' Breakneck Race around the World (Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books For Young Readers, February 15, 2022) written by Kate Hannigan with illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon is an account of an incredible journey when you consider the historical period in which it took place and at that time women in the United States did not even have the right to vote!
"Here is a race around the globe
between two young women
who make no pretense to athletics,
but who have been blessed with
indomitable pluck and
high intellectual endowments."
-----Atchison Daily Globe (Atchison, Kansas) Saturday, November 23, 1889
When we are introduced to Nellie and Elizabeth in the first few sentences, we immediately see them as opposites. Nellie is a reporter known for doing almost anything to get a story. As a magazine writer, Elizabeth is much quieter, more solemn.
One night, Nellie gets an idea. Jules Verne's Around The World in Eighty Days is a huge hit with readers. Nellie will do the same thing in seventy-five days! At first those making decisions at the newspaper think the idea is ludicrous, but then they realize this story may bring in a lot of money. Nellie leaves on November 14, 1889 on a steamship and discovers she gets seasick.
Later that evening, Elizabeth's editor calls her with a proposal. He wants her to do the same thing in the opposite direction. She is flabbergasted! She has guests coming! Elizabeth boards a train for California that day.
We are told where each of the women are on days five and six and seven and eight. Now Elizabeth is seasick crossing the Pacific Ocean and Nellie takes a side trip to meet Jules Verne in France. We are updated on their status on days 32, 36, 39, and 55. Guess who buys a new dress and who buys a monkey?
By day 63, Nellie is crossing the Pacific Ocean amid storms. You will not believe who the sailors blame for this misfortune. Elizabeth is about to take a steamship from France to head to the United States. Both believe they will arrive in New York on January 26, 1890. One arrives earlier and the other is a week later. One is cheered by thousands and the other is not. Readers will realize the truth of these two voyages, this race, when the final sentence is read. Women are remarkable, especially when they face adversity.
From the beginning, author Kate Hannigan starts to build contrast which grows day by day into tension and heightened anticipation. Once both women have set about their travels, her technique of telling us where they are at intervals with numbered days is captivating. Her inclusion of specific details adds to the realism. Quotations from newspaper articles, Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland add to the fascinating narrative of these two brave women. Here is a passage.
Day 39
Nellie's newspaper started a contest to guess her finishing time, and
thousands of entries flooded the newsroom. The whole world seemed
to be following the breakneck race between the two journalists!
Except one person . . .
(The next few sentences might shock you as they did me.)
Look at the determination, courage, and speed at which both women address this race against time and each other as evidenced by their facial expressions and body postures on the right side of the open and matching dust jacket and book case. Placing them on the planet with a blue sky and wispy clouds as a background is an excellent design choice. The color for the spine and left side of the jacket and case is a golden yellow.
On that jacket and case is a spiral of squares looking somewhat like a board game. (There is a reason for this revealed later.) In the upper, right-hand corner stand Nellie and Elizabeth. The squares alternate between turquoise, pink, and red. Sometimes, there is simply a yellow space. In the squares are representations of modes of travel and places of interest the two visited. In the center it shows one arriving by train and the other arriving by steamship to New York City.
The opening endpapers are a bright blue. The closing endpapers are a magenta hue of pink. The title page shows the duo, one each running off the left and the right sides, respectively. All we can see is a portion of their body, skirts flying and their shoes lifted to race.
These illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon were
done with acrylic inks & colored pencil on acid-free cartridge paper.
Full-color images replete with fine lines and exquisite elements will have readers pausing at each page turn. Rebecca Gibbon makes sure we understand the personalities of each woman. Her pictures are single pages with an abundance of white space, single pages, edge to edge, and groups of smaller illustrations to indicate the passage of time. These make the two double-page pictures more dramatic.
One of my many favorite illustrations is when Nellie is in Japan. It is day 55 in her travels. The entire scene is in blue and white. It mirrors the Willow Pattern and the associated legend. It enhances the quote from Nellie Bly perfectly.
Readers will be actively engaged from beginning to end of Nellie Vs. Elizabeth: Two Daredevil Journalists' Breakneck Race around the World written by Kate Hannigan with illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon. When you think about the types of transportation they used, what they did is amazing. At the close of the book are a two pages author's note with photographs, a two-page Timeline Of Women Investigative Journalists, followed by an illustrator's note, bibliography of books, newspapers and magazines, and acknowledgements. I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal bookshelves.
To learn more about Kate Hannigan and Rebecca Gibbon and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites. Kate Hannigan has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. Rebecca Gibbon has an account on Instagram. Kate Hannigan speaks about this book in a post at the Nerdy Book Club. At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.
In 2015 during Black History Month, President Barack Obama in a speech at the White House talked about a painting titled Resurrection placed in the Old Family Dining Room. It was painted by Alma Thomas. It is the first painting by an African American woman to be placed in the White House Collection. This book, Ablaze with Color: A Story Of Painter Alma Thomas (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, February 22, 2022) written by Jeanne Walker Harvey with illustrations by Loveis Wise, chronicles her life and her approach to life through art. This narrative and its resplendent artwork shine like the woman they showcase.
on beauty and happiness, rather than man's
inhumanity to man.---Alma Thomas (1970)
Alma loved being outside. She inhaled all the colors in her world like everyone else breathes air. She never liked to sit still, but preferred being a creator. Other women in her family made things, too, filling her home with happy hues.
Alma and her sisters' sadness came from being unable to attend the white school or visit the public library and museums. Her parents brought books and educators into their home to fill in those gaps. When Alma was fifteen her family left the south with its
injustices
and moved to Washington, DC to a home where Alma lived for many years.
After completion of studies in art, Alma wanted to bring what she had learned to the children of Washington DC. Schools there were still segregated, so she taught the children in her home. Also, most of her time was spent educating these children in her community through field trips, art clubs, and even installing an art gallery, the first of its kind, in a school.
After all her years in art education serving children, nearing seventy years old, Alma Thomas began to focus on her own art. Her new style of painting embraced bold, bright, beautiful color displayed through brushstrokes making lines, circles, and shapes mesmerizing in their intricate arrangements. What was in her mind and heart found its way into her artwork. Her artwork was featured as the
first solo show by a Black woman
at the Whitney in New York City. This was just the beginning for the work of this extraordinary woman, Alma Thomas.
Meticulously-researched word by meticulously-researched word, Jeanne Walker Harvey builds the life of Alma Thomas for readers. We understand the foundation upon which her life was built through discussions of her parents. Our admiration grows for her page by page as we are told of her dedication to the children in her community. Everything she does is framed by the historical period in which she lived and worked. We are told how barriers did not define her. (To think that only a little more than sixteen years of her life were for her art is astounding.) Here is a passage.
She fell back on the grass
beneath popular trees
and gazed at quivering yellow leaves
that whistled in the wind.
Alma waded in the blue hues of a brook
and basked in the warm glow of sunsets.
I don't know about you, but when I look at the front, right, and back, left, of the open dust jacket, I want to dance and laugh. How wonderful that Alma Thomas's style of painting frames her as she paints the title text. To the left of the spine, we are brought close to a portion of one of her paintings with lines on the right side. Both of these visuals vibrate with shades of expressed joy. Portions of both the front and the back are varnished.
You will be hard pressed not to gasp at the sight of the book case. Spanning both the left and right sides is a series of circles, centered at the spine, in hues of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each is made with Alma Thomas's signature brushstrokes.
The opening and closing endpapers are a dark bright pink. On the title page, the same text as shown on the dust jacket is framed by a series of circles on a crisp white background. Prior to the narrative beginning, Alma is shown painting a large canvas. This has a wide border around it in colorful shapes. She stands below the first above-noted quote.
For this book by Loveis Wise
used Adobe Photoshop to create the digital illustrations.
Each double-page picture, full-page image and full-page image framed in white reaches out and wraps around the reader. We become a part of the pictorial interpretation of the narrative. Every visual feels alive.
One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture. The background is dark, nearly black, but textured with other colors. Spanning nearly both pages, right crossing the gutter to the left, is one of Alma Thomas's paintings. It is bright yellow with circles and lines in reds, greens, blues, and white. On the far left, in the lower corner, stands Alma painting. She is wearing a brightly colored dress, glasses, and white shoes. She is smiling.
Her life choices as shown to us in Ablaze with Color: A Story Of Painter Alma Thomas written by Jeanne Walker Harvey with artwork by Loveis Wise was to teach joy and spread joy through art education and art. It was never her goal to be the first of anything, but she was, which is beautiful and most well-deserved. At the close of the book are an author's note, illustrator's note, a timeline comparing Alma's life with historical moments in the United States, and lists of sources, notes, and references. You most definitely will want a copy of this book in your professional and personal collections.
To learn more about Jeanne Walker Harvey and Loveis Wise and their other work, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names. Jeanne Walker Harvey has accounts on Pinterest and Twitter. Loveis Wise has accounts on Behance, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. At the publisher's website is an educators' guide. The cover reveal is hosted by librarian and writer John Schu at his blog, Watch. Connect. Read. This title is highlighted at The Children's Book Review and School Library Journal, The Classroom Bookshelf.
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