Young Reading: Take a stand, vote for good reads

Two weeks after my first baby was born, I took her on her first outing. I bathed her and dressed her in a white smocked bishop day gown with pink rosebuds tightly embroidered lovingly into the pleats. I remember lifting her and loving her and then telling her that her first outing was to be truly momentous, that we were heading out to take care of two items of business vital to American women. First, we voted. I told an oblivious baby the story of Susan B. Anthony on the way; and then we were off to the hair salon for some mommy maintenance, another must for modern females.

Kidding aside, we are blessed to live where a mother can go get her hair done or zip into the grocery store or head to work without fear that her children are endangered by incoming missiles. We live in the land of the free where our votes count, where we should take our children to the polls even if it takes twice as long. Children learn by example. Make your voice heard! Vote! Look for more election-oriented books coming next week in Young Reading.

THE HOPE CHEST. By Karen Schwabach. Random House. Ages 9-12. 288 pages. $16.99.

Written by Salem College's own Karen Schwabach, this piece of historical fiction transports young readers back to the time when women were struggling to gain the right to vote. As preposterous as that seems to liberated young girls today, it took many years and many battles before women had the freedom to choose who made their laws.

In Schwabach's novel, Violet chafes against being the proper sort of young lady her parents want her to become. She longs to follow her older sister's path to New York City, where Chloe has been working to get the vote for women. Violet runs away to find Chloe, but Chloe has followed the movement's efforts to Tennessee. Befriending Myrtle keeps Chloe both safe and from being lonely, but she encounters ugly racism when she realizes that people object to their friendship because Myrtle is black. This well-written novel brings out many points of controversy that pricked our growing nation's conscience. Schwabach has wrapped an engaging story around historical events.

AS IF BEING 12¾ ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! By Donna Gephart. Random House. Ages 10-14. 227 pages. $15.99.

I loved the premise of this election-themed read. Being 12 carries social, physical, emotional and mental challenges. With normal development, a mom who is preoccupied beyond belief while running for president and a deceased dad, it's no wonder that Vanessa Rothrock has problems. Between wishing that the Boob Fairy would pay her a visit and stressing over the spelling bee, Vanessa needs some time with her mother, the favored candidate for her party's nomination.

Vanessa fears for her mother's safety. When Vanessa begins getting bizarre notes in her locker threatening her mother, she takes neurotic to a new level. In fact, Vanessa plots to jeopardize her mother's campaign in an attempt to keep her mother safe. The plot backfires, makes her mother angry and causes a national media stink. In the end, Vanessa accepts her mother's destiny and greatness … and finds her own. This book is right on target for tweener girls.

DUCK FOR PRESIDENT: A Fresh Bill on Capitol Hill. By Doreen Cronin. Simon & Schuster. Ages 6-10 (with political references for adults to enjoy). $16.99.

This is hilarious, and I would expect no less from the team that brought us one of my personal favorites, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Duck's assigned chores motivate him to run for election in order to take charge of the farm. When he wins, he realizes that "running a farm is hard work." He responds by running for governor and then president, both of which he wins narrowly. Wow -- it is all too much, so Duck returns to the farm, not to work or be a duck but to write his autobiography.

LONG MAY SHE REIGN. By Ellen Emerson White. Feiwel and Friends. Ages 16 and up. 720 pages. $15.95.

I hope the length doesn't steer anyone away from this compelling book. Meg Powers, the president's incredibly gifted daughter, is wounded while kidnapped and fights to come back from the unimaginable. Her tenacity astounds most while her prickly demeanor turns away those who try to befriend her after she finally enters college, wounded emotionally and physically. She refuses to let the terrorists continue to cripple her by invading her thoughts and dreams.

On top of surviving the harrowing experience, Meg must come to grips with the fact that her mother chose presidential over maternal sentiment, saying that the United States "cannot, have not, and will not negotiate with terrorists," while Meg lay battered and beaten.

The sheer courage that defines Meg keeps her a different kind of hostage, ironic since courage freed her. For older adolescent or Generation Y book clubs, add this to the must-read pile in the election year of 2008. Many, many great book-talk issues emerge from these pages, pages that turn quickly as Meg's story unfolds.

■ Monica Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com.