In a writing and publishing career that spans some 30 years, Andrea Davis Pinkney has published dozens of her own books, including many illustrated by her husband, Brian Pinkney, and brought countless others into the world. Her Jump at the Sun imprint at Hyperion Children’s Books, established in 1998, helped pave the way for today’s new imprints that cultivate marginalized voices. She has won the Coretta Scott King Award and is a four-time nominee for the NAACP Image Award. Today she serves as vice president and executive editor for Scholastic Children’s Books even as she continues writing. Loretta Little Looks Back (Little, Brown) was one of Kirkus’ Best Middle-Grade Books of 2020. Her newest book, Harriet Tubman (Philomel, Jan. 5), kicks off Chelsea Clinton’s She Persisted series of chapter-book biographies celebrating American women who made a difference. (The entire series is illustrated by Gillian Flint.) Davis Pinkney spoke to Kirkus by phone about both writing about and being a changemaker. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you approach writing about Harriet Tubman for a chapter-book audience?

I played Harriet Tubman in my school play in fourth grade and did it with great pride. What I knew as a fourth grader from the few books at that time was that she was the most notable conductor on the Underground Railroad. That’s what we conventionally learn about Harriet Tubman. I said to Chelsea Clinton, you know, I needed the She Persisted series back then. But the beauty is that we have it now. What I learned in creating this book for the fourth graders of today is that Harriet made her first attempt at escaping slavery when she was about 8 years old. And it was just a few years later that she tried to protect an enslaved neighbor from the violence of an overseer. There we are, we see young Harriet making these amazing strides. I plant readers right in Harriet’s shoes from the time she’s a young girl and take it from there.

Your book taught me two things I didn’t know about Harriet Tubman. One was that her first husband was awful. And the other is that she fought the federal government for a pension for decades. What was your thinking in bringing those details to light?

My thinking was exactly what you said, which is that I didn’t know these facts. And now’s the time to know them. Kids are smart; they understand some of these larger issues. And I did work hard to contextualize them to make the information accessible. Hopefully the fourth graders of today will embrace these books. And if one of them later on marries a guy that’s not so great, maybe she’ll remember that Harriet Tubman was in that same situation and was strong and persistent throughout it. And who knows who’s going to be fighting for a pension down the road? I think that’s vital information for young readers.

Did you know that Harriet Tubman was going to be the kickoff book for the series when you started working on the project?

I didn’t know that. But I think that Harriet Tubman is really the perfect persister to lead the parade, if you will. So many women who came after Harriet, even women today, credit her for being the one that blazed that trail. And so many of the women that are featured in the series point to Harriet Tubman and say, those are the shoulders I stand on. The Kamala Harrises of tomorrow are reading the She Persisted series today. And thank goodness they have these books, because they’re going to be the ones who have that hand on the Bible and are being sworn in.

How did you feel watching Kamala Harris be sworn in?

I felt proud and exhilarated and hopeful and all of those things, but those words feel too small for the intensity of the moment. I was looking at it through several lenses. I was looking at it through the lens of my mom, who was one of the first women of color to be part of the League of Women Voters. I look at it through the lens of my own daughter—her world is even more wide open. And I look at it through my own lens, as an author and publisher and parent and social justice advocate. It struck me from many vantage points.

Your mom was in the League of Women Voters, and wasn’t your dad an activist as well?

In 1959, my dad, the late Philip J. Davis, was one of the first Black interns to work on Capitol Hill in the House of Representatives. His life goal was to learn the inner workings of Congress with an eye toward making changes, and he did that. He later went on to work in the Department of Labor, advising several presidential administrations on labor policy and civil rights practice as it relates to people of color and women. That’s the family tree from which I come. As I look back now, I took it for granted that as a kid, I would answer the phone and I’d say, “Dad, it’s Jesse Jackson.”

When did you realize that not every other kid was having those experiences?

When I would go back to school in September, and every year it was the same situation—you know, what did you do last summer? My answer was always the same. I went to the National Urban League, I went to the NAACP conference. And right as we come into the school year, I’m going to the Congressional Black Caucus. I always said it with a little bit of an eye roll, because everybody else was [talking about] sleep-away camp, the beach, you know, this and that.

As young Andrea Davis, did you have the expectation that you would have this twin purpose of not only supporting yourself, but also continuing in your parents’ activist path?

Yes. Absolutely. I learned very early that the pen is very powerful. And when used to the right purpose, you can make a change through writing.

Talking about the power of the pen, as I was reading your book, all I could think was, what could Harriet Tubman have done had she had the advantage of literacy?

I know—what a force. You asked about the Kamala Harris moment. I did have the feeling when I watched Kamala Harris being sworn in that Harriet Tubman would have been there. She would have been at that inauguration with her mask on and social distancing—all 5 feet of her.

What characteristics of Harriet Tubman’s do you want young readers to come away with?

She was unstoppable. Look at everything that she endured. Not only the 300 passengers that she ushered to freedom, but going up against men, even Black men who doubted her. I think if Harriet rang my doorbell in Brooklyn, New York, and I invited her in, and we sat down, I would ask her, “Sister Harriet, what did you do when you wanted to say, ‘Enough—I can’t take another step’? What did you do?” And my guess is that she would say, “I kept going.” That’s what courage is, that’s what faith is.

Do you have any final words about Harriet Tubman (or anything else)?

You may not have heard that we She Persisted authors have dubbed ourselves the Persisterhood. It’s really emblematic of everything that we’re talking about today—that we are sister authors telling these vital, important stories in new ways.

Vicky Smith is a young readers’ editor.