Leo's First Vote! by Christina Soontornvat, Isabel Roxas
ISBN: 0593644263
Genres: Immigrants
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads

Leo’s First Vote is about a little boy named Leo whose father is voting in America for the first time after becoming a US citizen. While Leo’s father is getting ready to vote, Leo’s teacher is teaching the class about voting and elections. These make a nice parallel as Leo and his father work through their thoughts about voting. Leo and his dad go through the whole process: learning about the candidates, watching the debates, finding a polling place, staying in line to vote, registering to vote, and voting rights. Throughout the book Leo and those around him bring up important questions and ideas about voting, including the most central of all: Does one vote make a difference? Leo’s dad starts to answer this question, discussing how the overwhelming problems in the world can make our actions feel unimportant but that we must do our best to do our part. Then, in Leo’s class’ mock election the results are down to just one vote —showing that each vote makes a difference. Best of all, the book is not focused on if Leo or his father’s choice of candidate wins the election but about the importance of voting itself. It ends with an illustration of Leo’s dad reading the front page of the newspaper with an article that talks about a “historic turnout.” The author deftly avoids any political party and allows the reader to focus on the importance of voting itself, separate from the outcome.

Leo’s First Vote is an exceptionally thorough yet accessible introduction to voting. While this would be a great text for elementary students (K-5), it would also be a great start to any civics, government, or other history unit in the secondary grades; I will definitely be adding it to our high school collection for our unified history class. Furthermore, though it is not the primary idea in the book, Leo’s First Vote is a very positive depiction of New Americans and his father being a productive citizen. Adults will appreciate Leo’s father’s point that voting and democracy aren’t a right everywhere in the world and that the authors are careful to create a positive impression of immigrants, something all collections need. This story is also a great representation of community: Leo’s father is helped by many members of the community from politicians to neighbors to elders in the community to college students who help him with different aspects of voting from understanding candidates, finding a polling location, and knowing voting rights like staying in line even if the polling location is closing. Highly recommend for all collections, 5 stars. *Cream of the crop nominee* 

Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner