Product Description

The suffragists are all over the newspapers these days. Father fumes and frets about it and Mother soothes him, saying it will never be put into law.

Everything is changing for women in 1913. The Washington Post is full of headlines about the suffragists. More women are working to support themselves. The nearly 100-year battle for women's right to vote is coming closer to victory. Francesca Vigilucci's father rages about it; her mother avoids the topic altogether. Francesca only knows she doesn't want the future her parents have planned for her, a life of privilege and good works as the obedient wife to a successful man. The only person who seems to understand is Laura, a cleaning girl in the Vigilucci household.

Then a prominent suffragist, in town for the White House picket line and a suffragist parade, comes to one of Mother's charity luncheons. Francesca finds the courage to admit her secret dream of becoming a reporter -- but how can she ever persuade her parents?

Product Details

• Published on: 2002-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Turtleback

From School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Thirteen-year-old Francesca realizes that her wealthy, comfortable Victorian lifestyle is not what she wants for her future. Secretly she yearns to go to college and become a reporter in her hometown of Washington, DC. Of course her patrician father will not hear of it and her mother, although sympathetic to such movements as getting the vote for women and women working out of the home, is stuck in her life of luxury and male dominance. A parade scene down Pennsylvania Avenue on the day of President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration ceremonies is a particularly well-written excerpt that illustrates the various facets and points of view toward the suffragist movement. Combine this story with Shana Corey's You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer (Scholastic, 2000) to illustrate the role of women in the early 20th century.-Betsy Barnett, Eads School District, CO

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

An excellant addition to the American Diaries series.
Thirteen-year-old Francesca Vigilucci has always lived a privileged life in Washington, D.C., as the daughter of a wealthy lawyer. The year is 1913, and things are changing for women in the United States - although it seems as though life in the Vigilucci household is no different than it has always been. Francesca knows that her parents expect her to marry a wealthy man and raise a family, but that's not the life she dreams of. She longs to attend college and start an exciting career, instead of living a life like her mother's - a life that would be boring to Francesca. The only person she can share her dreams with is Laura, a girl her age who works as a servant in the Vigilucci home. The girls long to attend the suffragist parade to show their support for the women fighting to win the right to vote, but with Francesca's grumpy, traditional aunt in town, will they be able to find a way? This was another excellent addition to the American Diaries series. Kathleen Duey brought to life both the suffragist movement and the varying social conditions of the wealthy and the impoverished in early twentieth century America. As always, I look forward to reading the next book in the series.