Woman in the House & Senate

For the first 128 years of our countryand#8217;s history, not a single woman served in the Senate or House of Representatives. All of that changed, however, in November 1916, when Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congressand#151;even before the Nineteenth Amendment gave women across the U.S. the right to vote.

Beginning with the womenand#8217;s suffrage movement and going all the way through the results of the 2012 election, Ilene Cooper deftly covers more than a century of U.S. history in order to highlight the influential and diverse group of female leaders who opened doors for women in politics as well as the nation as a whole. Featured women include Hattie Caraway (the first woman elected to the Senate), Patsy Mink (the first woman of color to serve in Congress), Shirley Chisholm (the first African-American woman in Congress), and present-day powerhouses like Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. The book is filled with lively illustrations and archival photographs. It includes a glossary, index, and chart of all the women who have served in Congress.

Praise for A Woman in the House (and Senate)

STARRED REVIEW

"It is no small task to create a book that summarizes over a century of U.S. history, gives a crash course in civics, and provides succinct, pithy biographies of numerous women who have served in the legislative and judicial branches of government. Cooper pulls it off."

and#151;Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Ilene Cooper has written many acclaimed childrenand#8217;s books, including Jewish Holidays All Year Round, winner of the National Jewish Book Award. She is an editor for Booklist and lives in Chicago.