Until mid-July, the 2024 presidential election looked to be a gloomy remake of 2020 but this time with a forgone conclusion. Then everything changed. Headline: Biden out. Harris in. The race is on.
The recast Harris vs. Trump match-up has turned exciting, and so has a pile of recent books geared to this election season. At the top is “The Story of Kamala Harris: An Inspiring Biography for Young People” by Tonya Leslie and illustrated by Juanita Londoño (Callisto Publishing/Sourcebooks; 72 pages; $15.99; ages 6-9). The Bay Area and its values figure prominently in this upcoming update that already notes her new status as Democratic Party nominee for president, out Sept. 24
Kids will find out that Harris grew up mostly in the East Bay where she attended civil rights demonstrations as a toddler and a newly integrated school later on. For ten years, she lived out-of-state, before returning home for law school and a trailblazing career. Harris was the first Black woman and the first of South Asian and Jamaican ancestry to serve as district attorney for San Francisco, attorney general and U.S. Senator for California, and vice president of the United States.
Emphasis is on Harris’ can-do approach and life-long passion for justice. Rough spots are not ignored. She needed two tries to pass the California bar exam and to make an official run for the presidency. Throughout the book, thoughtful questions engage young readers. Example: “Can you think of a time when you did not give up on your dream?”
Just after being elected vice president, Harris became a popular subject in other biographical series, like this “Inspiring” one. But, in the world of kids’ books, Donald Trump garners far less attention from mainstream publishers. One possible explanation: It’s hard to cultivate kids’ respect for the Oval Office and explain the felonies and infidelities, the lies and bullying of 45.
So, beyond the specifics of 2024, some general books cover the election process and even some presidential history. Together, they impart information, anticipate questions, connect dots, suggest answers, launch conversations and amplify interest in our democracy.
Your Vote Matters: How We Elect the US President
By Rebecca Katzman; illustrated by Ellen Duda
(Scholastic; 112 pages; $21.99 HB/$9.99 PB; ages 8-12)
“Ready to cruise down the long and winding road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?” That query launches this terrific, one-stop overview of the presidential election process and the presidency. Broad and deep, grounded in the past and timely, it covers the basics and beyond. Examples: executive orders, voting (the eligible pool, rights, responsibilities and suppression), political parties, campaigns, debates, pressing issues, First Ladies (and one day a First Gentleman), the Electoral College, the peaceful transfer of power and ways to make a difference “while you’re still a kid!”
Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote
By Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau
(Little, Brown; 244 pages; $19.99; ages 12-up)
Your freedom is in danger because some powerful people don’t want everyone to vote or don’t want the votes to count. That’s the alarm sounded in this stirring and detailed history of voting in America from 1787 until now. With passion and purpose, it chronicles the long, continuous struggle to expand and protect franchise for non-property owners, women, Native Americans, Black people, immigrants and young adults. Highlighted are many brave heroes of the fight, insidious methods of voter suppression and finally recommendations—many controversial—about how “to get more democracy.”
Show Up and Vote
By Ani Di Franco; illustrated by Rachelle Baker
(Rise x Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House; 48 pages; $18.99; ages 3-6)
Good citizenship is modeled in this charmingly purposeful mini-memoir by Ani DiFranco, a musician and activist. As she recalls, mama brought her along to the polling place on a nasty November day, being “on a mission that by definition, no one can do for us.” The sense of individual responsibility and communal action fortifies the simple story line, conveyed with a song writer’s grace and set against bold, poster-style art. In a voting booth, mother and daughter have their say and choose those who “will get things done/take care of things for everyone.”
Leo’s First Vote
By Christina Soontornvat; illustrated by Isabel Roxas
(Knopf; 48 pages; $18.99; ages 4-8)
“My dad just became a United States citizen. This means so much to our family. Best of all, it means he gets to vote for president of the United States. He promised to take me with him.” Thus begins this lively, fictionalized exploration of the election process that unfolds for real and at school. (Quibble: In this toxic environment, would a class actually hold a mock presidential vote?) Neatly covered are topics such as voter registration, political parties and conventions, debates, secret ballots, the polling place, election day rules, and why every vote matters.
The Day Madear Voted
By Wade Hudson; illustrated by Don Tate
(Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House; 32 pages; $18.99; ages 3-7)
Four years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Madear votes for the very first time. Her young sons stand by as she prepares for the momentous day and enumerates the many obstacles previously put up to keep Black folks from voting in her Louisiana town—poll taxes, reading tests, guessing games. Loosely based on real events, this heartfelt, feel-good picture book blends the personal and political, culminating in 2008 when African American Barack Obama is elected president of the United States. Declares Madear, “This is the change all the struggles were for.”
A Mitzvah for George Washington
By Rachelle Burke; illustrated by Chiara Fedele
(Creston Books; 32; $19.99; ages 7-12)
Travel back in time to the first president’s first term in this narrowly focused, slice-of-history about George Washington’s visit to Newport, Rhode Island in August of 1790. One goal: to rally support for the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment that guarantees the free expression of religion. Grounded in actual events, the sweetly fictionalized storyline describes how Jewish children of what is now the Touro Synagogue thank Washington for his commitment to a nation free of religious persecution. The mitzvah or “good deed” in Hebrew is their expression of gratitude that today reminds us of our founding principles. (Pub date October 1)
Thomas Jefferson’s Battle for Science: Bias, Truth, and a Mighty Moose!
By Beth Anderson; illustrated by Jeremy Holmes
(Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers; 48 pages; $18.99; ages 7-10)
A young Thomas Jefferson measured the natural world—animals, plants, mountains, streams, weather and crops. Science was his “supreme delight,” according to this enlightening illustrated account of how he came to disprove a French naturalist’s claim that America was “a cold and swampy place” with small, insignificant animals. How did Jefferson do it? With questions, facts and evidence and the kind of scientific thinking that served him well as third president of the United States and, going forward, future presidents as well. Well, many anyway.
Unshakable Eleanor: How Our 32nd First Lady Used Her Voice to Fight for Human Rights
By Michelle Markel; illustrated by Alejandro Mesa
(Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins; 40 pages; $19.99; ages 4-8)
Born into wealth, declared homely as a child and an orphan at 10, Eleanor Roosevelt felt like a failure from the start according to this inspirational picture biography that follows her evolution into an activist First Lady, fighting for women’s rights, economic justice and racial equality. Clean digital art captures the changing times and Roosevelt’s far reach. (Only the extensive back matter mentions her children.) Kids can measure progress made and work yet unfinished as Roosevelt concludes late in life, “We cannot wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow is now.” Sounds like Kamala!
Susan Faust is a freelance writer.
