October 10, 2022
Fryer Brown and Crews spotlight trailblazer Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005) in a picture book biography that identifies the first Black Congresswoman as the political forbear of Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, and other contemporary leaders. Introducing the self-proclaimed “unbought and unbossed” Chisholm, anticipatory text states, “Before she was born, Shirley would kick so hard, her mother knew she was aching to come out and fight.” A childhood partially spent in Barbados informed her of “the unfair way certain people were treated in America.... She wanted to do something about it.” The refrain “She wasn’t done yet” carries Chisholm forward from a role at a Brooklyn political club to the New York State Assembly to Congress, where as “a righteous rebel who earned respect... Shirley championed bold ideas,” continuing with a serious run for president in 1972. Brown’s narrative free verse and Crews’s heavily patterned digital vector art contemporize Chisholm’s “Let us move beyond hate” message as just as relevant today. Creators’ notes and a timeline conclude. Ages 5–10.