An inspirational book from Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, about a girl who meets the candidate and is inspired to break gender stereotypes. Polly is a young girl who is tired of hearing what girls can’t do. She offers to help her uncle fix a broken sink, and he tells her girls don’t do that. She wants to build a drawbridge for a school project, and her brother tells her girls don’t do that. She starts to wash the family car, and her neighbor tells her girls don’t do that.
Her mother, however, has an idea, and takes Polly to a rally to see someone who is running for president. The candidate turns out to be a woman named Elizabeth, who sees Polly sitting up front and explains that she wants to lead our country because “That’s what girls do.” She and Polly make a “pinkie promise” to remember.
When Polly then begins her first day at a new school, her mother asks her if she can be brave. Polly says yes, “because that’s what girls do.” She says the same when she is asked to score a tiebreaking kick at her soccer game, when she says she will help a boy find his lost dog, and when she decides to run for class president. Finally, when her mom says good night and tells her to “Dream big,” she says she will, “because that’s what girls do.” Each time she says this, she makes a “pinkie promise” to honor her commitment.
It may be a bit of a cognitive leap to go from seeing a woman run for president to realizing girls/women can do all kinds of other things, too, but Polly has clearly made the connection. And while “that’s what girls do” can be as much of a negative statement as a positive one (“girls only wear pink”; “girls stay home and have babies”), the focus here is clearly only on the positive. Grown-ups may wish to discuss both sides with young readers.
The image at the end of the book shows Polly asleep in bed. On her nightstand are photos of her helping her uncle fix the sink and washing a car with the neighbor, as well as a thank-you note from the boy who found his dog.
Polly, her brother, and her mother all have medium-tan skin; her uncle’s is lighter. Her classmates have a variety of racial and ethnic identities. Notably, too, her soccer coach is nonbinary. This isn’t entirely clear from the text, though their purple undercut hairstyle feels queer—but illustrator Charlene Chua, who is nonbinary themselves, confirmed this for me in an e-mail. Additionally, Polly’s mom has a bi flag keychain and a trans flag pin on her purse, though Chua said readers can decide if she’s bi and trans herself or just an ally. (I’m tagging the book as if the character is bi and trans so that readers seeking such representation can evaluate her themselves.)
Although Warren’s presidential run in 2020 didn’t work out, perhaps this book will help inspire a young girl like Polly to succeed in gaining the Oval Office, thus fulfilling Warren’s promise.
