Madam Speaker : Nancy Pelosi Calls the House to Order
Madam Speaker : Nancy Pelosi Calls the House to Order
Click to enlarge
Author(s): Boston Weatherford, Carole
ISBN No.: 9781499811896
Pages: 40
Year: 202109
Format: Picture Book
Price: $ 25.19
Dispatch delay: Dispatched between 7 to 15 days
Status: Available

A short, admiring biography, punctuated with quotations from Pelosi and accompanied by simple, stylized art. The initial double-page spread shows little Nancy D'Alesandro stuffing envelopes for one of her father's political campaigns. (He served both in Congress and as Baltimore's mayor.) A framed family portrait-including Nancy's five older brothers-sits beneath a quotation in which she lists her family's allegiances to Catholicism, patriotism, Italian American pride, and the Democratic Party. The text is accessible and clever, as in its assertion that Nancy and her brothers "looked up" to portraits of past presidents and also "never looked down on those who needed a hand up." As the text reveals her passage from youth into adulthood, it suggests that Pelosi learned about leadership from her father and from nuns at her college prep school. Pelosi's own words add motherhood to her leadership training. This and other well-chosen quotations show her cleareyed understanding from an early age of gender-based power dynamics.


The text follows her further education; her marriage and swift plunge into raising five children; her congressional work in support of LGBTQ+ rights and the Affordable Care Act; her record-breaking eight hours of speech to protect DACA recipients. The art includes mostly benevolent-looking people of varied racial presentations; the text barely suggests political discord but unabashedly highlights Pelosi's Democratic victories. It's possible that even children of Republicans will be inspired by the ending. Overall, a solid choice for first-time biography readers.


To be able to view the table of contents for this publication then please subscribe by clicking the button below...
To be able to view the full description for this publication then please subscribe by clicking the button below...