Publisher: Abrams Books for Young
Readers, New York
Author: Susan Wood
Illustrator: Sarah Green
Title: Nevertheless, She Persisted
Review by Ari
Samuel Alkalay Appel
Often, what we choose to tell children
is a better representation of the state which we are in than what we
we say to adults. Susan Wood and Sarah Green have given us a gem that
shines brightly, a statement about a woman who defines what this
planet is missing.
With a title reminiscent of The
Little Engine That Could,
Nevertheless, She Persisted is a beautifully written and
illustrated portrait of a fiery senator's humble upbringing, her life
as a mother and wife, and her successful career. Wood and Green have
created a tool for teaching young children that anything is possible
and especially that being a woman should never prevent someone from
fulfilling her dreams.
The journey of the first female
senator from Massachusetts is filled with trials: financial
instability throughout Warren's youth, dismissal from her university
program due to her status as a young mother, unemployment after law
school, and the perpetual quest for balance between family life and
professional endeavors. Warren does not heroically trounce these
challenges but rather navigates them with grace by adhering to the
principle of persistence.
If every piece of children's
literature has a moral, the moral of Nevertheless, She Persisted
is to always be persistent. It is important to mind that the word
"persistence" also connotes difficulty. What I like most
about the book is that it does not guard young readers from the
realities of middle-class life in America. In exploring the theme of
persistence, it also probes the specter of erasure for being a woman
or for being poor. The threat of losing one's identity is always
present, yet the story gives young readers a simple guiding
principle: always, always persist. Persist at what you believe in,
fight with your words, and people will listen.
The story is human and immediate,
though sometimes clumsy in returning to its central theme. For
example, in telling of Warren's high school debate club, Wood states
that Warren learned about “getting battered, but not beaten” as
she made her way to the state championship. This language seems out
of place for a high school debate club. Even though a children's book
should have a consistent moral, to assume that a child cannot
understand specific language in a variety of situations
underestimates his or her creativity and intelligence.
Despite this weakness, Nevertheless,
She Persisted is full of
strengths. One illustration shows a gated manor with a private pond
near four shacks, juxtaposing the wealth of one family with the
poverty of four others. This disparity is what Warren wants us to
notice. The text discusses income inequality due to corporate greed
and Warren's work against it as a law professor. Three blue birds fly
through the foreground of the illustration, freer than the people
below. Fortunately, Warren is someone with something to say about
this.
Nevertheless, She Persisted paints
Warren as a fighter singularly motivated by the benefit of
all, inspired by her humble upbringings to create a better world.
Nevertheless, She Persisted
gives children a heroine and reinforces that with a little help from
one's family, persistence is all every child needs.
****Ari Samuel Alkalay Appel is a poet
and essayist who lives and works in Roxbury. He enjoys cycling and
woodworking during his free time. He grew up in Newton,
Massachusetts, where he graduated from Newton North High School. He
studied at Whitman College in Eastern Washington, where he obtained a
degree in Rhetoric Studies. He also studied at the University of
Buenos Aires in Argentina.
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