A girl with two dads becomes an ally to a nonbinary classmate in this story with broad lessons about allyship.
Eleanor’s dads named her after Eleanor Roosevelt, who “was all about making things more fair.” The young Eleanor wants to emulate her namesake, but sometimes finds it hard. She often encounters unfairness at school when kids say that things are just for girls or just for boys, or when nonbinary classmate Star isn’t able to choose between restrooms labeled “Boy” and “Girl.”
When the teacher asks girls and boys to sit on opposite sides of the room for a class activity, Eleanor again notices Star’s discomfort. Buoyed by stories that her dads have told her about Roosevelt actively supporting racial equality, Eleanor places her chair in between the gendered sections of the class, just as Roosevelt had protested segregation by sitting between the Black and White sections at an event. Star is delighted, and the teacher changes her approach to class activities and bathroom signage.
Some picture books on allyship conflate it with simple kindness. Kindness is important, of course, but it is not the same as allyship, which really carries the connotation of supporting someone who is different in some aspect of identity and who has less privilege because of it. This story nicely captures that sense of helping across difference without resorting to dry definitions, and throws in a touch of LGBTQ history as well.
An Author’s Note observes that while the Black and LGBTQ civil rights movements are different, allies have played an important role in each. It also offers more details of Roosevelt’s efforts towards social justice, and notes that she was “Encouraged by the woman she loved, Lorena Hickok.” Also in the backmatter are a few references and a list of ways “You Can Be an Ally, Too,” including, importantly, that “An ally SPEAKS with, not for, the people who are affected by the unfairness.”
A recommended title that should open up lots of further discussion.
Eleanor has medium-light skin and dark curly hair; one dad is Black and one White. Star is White and the other students and teachers have a variety of racial/ethnic identities.
