Booklist Review

After a prologue describing the response after a North Dakota law disrupted registration and voting for Chippewa Indians on reservations, Rubin retells the inspiring story of America's most dramatic voting rights movement during the 1960s. Nonviolent resistance to state-sanctioned intimidation and disenfranchisement of Black citizens climaxed in Alabama in 1965 and led to the Voting Rights Act later that year. Next, Rubin discusses how America's founders limited voting rights to white men of property and how later generations extended those rights to other groups, including women. But even today, as the prologue notes, certain factions are working to undermine voting rights and manipulate election results. The discussion concludes with a recent movement to give voting rights to 16-year-olds. Rubin distills and organizes a great deal of information into an engaging, accessible narrative that seems particularly pertinent in a presidential election year. Quotes from different eras and movements help readers sense the moods and attitudes of various historical periods, while well-chosen photos, drawings, paintings, and political cartoons illustrate the presentation. A concise, informative introduction to voting rights in America.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2020 Booklist