Freya is a middle schooler who lives with her parents and younger sister in the small town of Wellstone. The town is named after local historical hero Benjamin Wellstone. And no one ever questioned the history of Benjamin Wellstone.
For a project in social studies class, the students in Freya's class are assigned by teacher Mr. Clayton to do research on a historical figure, Freya chooses Benjamin Wellstone. And she finds out that Benjamin wasn't so much of a hero, as he had very conservative and wrong ideas and writings about particularly women. In his eyes, women where only fit and suitable in the kitchen, as nanny's and cleaners and no, women had absolutely no right to vote. Who was he to decide what women and girls should do or not do? The more she researches about Benjamin, the more she disvovers, and she learns about the suffragists movement, and in particular suffragist Olivia Padgett, because of the help of her friend Callie and Mai, the cool librarian who is a true research hero. Freya wants nothing more than that the statue of Benjamin Wellstone that has been standing in town for decades, will be removed. With Callie’s help, Freya writes and posts a blog post where she shines a light on Mr. Wellstone’s views about women and suggests removing his statue. She gets mixed reactions on the post from people standing with her and against her view on him, and Freya has to think of a way to make her voice still heard and protest and shine also a light on suffragists like Olivia Padgett, who didn't get the honours that men like Benjamin got and seem to be forgotten. With the help of her family, who sometimes have a hard time dealing with Freya's outspokenness, she finds a way..
I really liked this new book by Barbara Dee. Barbara Dee truly knows how to weave an relevant social topics into books for young readers, every time again,in a fantastic way. The storyline and characters in this book are, just like in her previous books, brilliant. The writing is perfect for the age group it is aimed at, and altough this book has an educational part because of the social topic, it is never to difficult to follow for young readers, and the tone is just the right one, that makes this book also very entertaining and fun to read, and I think Barbara Dee's boos should be mandatory reads in every classroom and is perfect for a class disscussion.Freya truly is portrayed as a realistic, authentic and idealistic tween, while you are also shown her parent's point of view, and the interactions with her friends and other people in her community, it all made this story feel very real. I truly recommend this new book by Barbara Dee!
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