Kirkus: "At last—an engaging story that brings alive the term 'women's suffrage' to young readers. . . . [A] sparkling account."
The Horn Book: "An appealing sample of the resourcefulness of women faced with the bullheadedness of some men."
School Library Journal: “Starting in 1869, two sisters from Glastonbury, CT, protested against taxation without representation. Female property owners were not allowed to vote or speak in town meetings, yet were taxed at a higher rate than their male counterparts. When Abby and Julia Smith refused to pay, their prized cows were seized. The story about these smart and resourceful women is laced with humor as the cows go back and forth….”
Booklist: This title introduces the little-known story of two elderly sisters, Abby and Julia Smith, who fought against the taxation levied upon them as nonvoting citizens in nineteenth-century Connecticut. Their argument, that “taxation without representation” was just what Americans had revolted against one hundred years earlier, won them many supporters in their community and, eventually, the nation, but it barely affected their lawsuits with city fathers. The sisters’ beloved cows became pawns in the arguments, used as collateral and bargaining chips by both sides. The long text’s straightforward language, which includes the specific arithmetic of the conflict, may require some dramatic read-alouds to help draw children into the story. Caldecott Medalist McCully’s watercolor illustrations of the historical scenes enhance this account of a pivotal event in women’s long struggle for equality. Andrew Medlar