The author of The Bobbin Girl offers another strong, admirable character in this encounter between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a younger neighbor. Every afternoon Cordelia comes over to care for Mrs. Stanton's horse in exchange for a riding lesson plus a series of reminiscences to which she listens politely, if not always attentively. One day, after explaining how her strenuous but futile childrhood efforts to win her father's respect taught her to keep on fighting, Mrs. Stanton invites Cordelia to come along to the polls as she quixotically tries yet again to vote. Her example before a jeering (as well as, in one or two cases, admiring) throng of men and boys inspires an act of courage in Cordelia. An author's note at the end separates fact and fictions.

Like Michael Bedard's Emily (1992), this book gives readers a tantalizing, child's-eye view of an American original, a challenger of social norms and expectations. McCully's dark, vigorously brushed watercolors successfully evoke both period (1880) and personalities: Stanton is a glowering formidable presence, while Cordelia, with her straight back, pinafore, and large hair ribbon is a poised, blonde soulmate to Mirette.

"McCully's richly hued, softly textured paintings beautifully evoke the late 19th-century era...skillfully weaving fact and story, The Ballot Box Battle offers a history lesson pleasingly framed in a story about an independent young girl" (School Library Journal (Starred Review).

Cordelia wants to see if she can jump a fence on an old horse. The horse belongs to her neighbor, Elizabeth Stanton. Elizabeth Stanton has her own concerns. It's voting day; she can't vote because of her sex, and she's tired of the prejudice against women that she's endured her entire life. With Cordelia in tow, Stanton pushes into a polling place and powerfully, though unsuccessfully, asserts her Constitutional right. When Cordelia leaves, still affected by the elderly woman's courage, she is mocked by her brother about her sex. In response she mounts the old horse and jumps it perfectly, while Ms. Stanton cheers her on with "Bully for you! The old war-horse has fight in her yet!"

From Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully comes the inspiring story of Cordelia, a young girl whose relationship with her neighbor, the great suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, inspires her to a remarkable act of courage.

Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully was born in Galesburg, Illinois, which is also the birthplace of the poet Carl Sandburg, a friend and mentor of Emily's father and the subject of many of her first portrait drawings. As a child in Garden City, New York, Emily doodled and sketched and created her own stories, binding them into books complete with their own copyright pages. As class artist in school, she was recruited to design posters, backdrops, and programs for concerts and plays. Despite her interest in drawing, Emily decided against attending art school and enrolled at Pembroke College (now Brown University). She performed as an actress and singer, and was co-author of the annual college musical. After graduation, Emily worked odd jobs in the field of commercial art. In 1966, a children's book editor saw a series of advertisement posters Emily had illustrated and asked her to illustrate her first children's book. It was not until 1985, however, that her storytelling and picture-making were united with Picnic, the first of five wordless picture books about a family of mice.

Always at work on a new project, Emily divides her time between a studio loft in New York City, and a home in the country. She is an avid reader, gardener, cook, and tennis player, and she is the mother of two grown sons, Nat and Ted.