AN EQUAL SHOT

It took only 37 words to change the United States forever.

When certain words were omitted from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, and the Emancipation Proclamation, 37 had to be written in 1972 to grant girls and women the same opportunities as boys and men. Before that, girls and women could be denied jobs, the chance to play sports, and educational opportunities—things that boys and men took for granted. Writing simply, Becker ably explains to readers that Title IX is about more than just giving girls and women the ability to play sports, which is often the aspect of the law most discussed; Title IX continues to allow girls and women access to every aspect of education, which provides them with the same training as boys and men to become experts in all fields. This account of Title IX, though, shines in the backmatter. Here, Becker names the women credited with crafting the law’s language and discusses how the law looked in the past and looks today, taking care to explain that inequity persists. There are some hiccups: Becker uses “America” when she means the United States, and Phumiruk’s casually diverse illustrations suggest that White and Black women always walked together in the fight for women’s rights. But her endpapers are delightful, and all illustrations are clean and clear. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 25% of actual size.)

Both an easy-to-read introduction and a powerful reminder that we must always fight for equality.