Good news! Streetcar to Justice: How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York, made the ALSC Notable Books list! (ALSC is the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.)
This means a lot to me. I worked so hard on this book, perhaps harder than on any other book I've done. The research was extraordinarily challenging. The events took place in 1854-55, which may as well be a thousand years ago, and I was determined to use original resources.
This meant countless hours at historical societies, universities, and, of course, libraries. Without the New York Public Library's main branch, and the Schomburg branch in Harlem, this book could not have been written. The archives there are priceless.
Being selected for the Notable Children's Book 2019 list is special to me for an additional reason. When I was growing up I wanted to become a librarian. I remember the first time I said it and how my mother smiled with pride. Well, I never became a librarian but I'm one of those persons who writes the books that fill the shelves of libraries, so that's close enough.