The Voting Booth has got to be my recent contemporary obsession. I am a huge fan of the recent political YA’s like Yes, No, Maybe So and, soon, Six Angry Girls. The Voting Booth swept me away and I almost finished it in one day it was that good. Find out all my favorite things about The Voting Booth in this book review.
Summary
Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She’s always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke Crenshaw is do done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band’s first paying gig tonight.
Only problem? Duke can’t vote.
When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn’t spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that’s how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva’s missing cat), it’s clear that there’s more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Edelweiss. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Voting Booth a story full of compelling and charming characters. I couldn’t pick who I loved more in this dual POV story. Marva is so organized, so passionate, and I saw so much of myself in her. Whereas Duke has these hidden depths, a compassionate heart, and some of the his chapters made me tear up. The Voting Booth is the type of book that will be fuel for the conscious and aware teens of today. Tackling topics of voter suppression, fear of the police, and racist microaggressions, its a book that delivers rage and hope.
Rage at the injustice in the potential voting suppression, the racist comments towards Duke’s biracial family, or the way that some people have the privilege to ‘not be involved’. To go back to their lives, to not have to care, to not have to vote, because the decisions don’t change their lives. Because the world was built for them. Reading The Voting Booth felt particularly timely as conversations about activism, individual actions for change, and, scenes of the fear of the police, the systemic racism against Black people.
At the same time, there’s also immense hope. Hope in friendships born out of a passion for justice. Sparks of hope in people’s ability to change and to surprise us. And the power of finding people we can be ourselves with, without explanations, and the immense change community can be in our lives. There are so many determined and passionate side characters who will steal your heart – if you have any left after Marva and Duke. They’re multi-dimensional, quirky, and endearing.
Overall,
The Voting Booth is my latest book obsession. It’s a book that delivered every emotion I had with characters that made me smile and tear up. By the end I couldn’t stop reading! At the core of The Voting Booth is the belief that we can make change. The difference of our voices, of our vote, to the future. To fighting for a future where we don’t have to be afraid, where we are seen, where we have a voice. Find The Voting Booth on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.