Tear This Down

Twelve-year-old, white-cued Freya struggles to relate to her peers, who are put off by her uninhibited enthusiasm. Following a humiliating defeat in the race for class president, Freya vows to keep her views to herself. Then, while researching for a school project, she learns of the sexist writings of the town’s namesake Benjamin Wellstone. The seventh grader is enraged at the reverence he is afforded by her neighbors—especially when contrasted with the forgotten legacy of local suffragists. With the help of a new friend and a hip librarian, Freya unearths the efforts of women from her own town who fought for the right to vote, and plots ways to show her neighbors just how problematic their hero was. But as the burgeoning activist faces resistance, she becomes preoccupied with changing the town name and tearing down a statue of Wellstone, losing sight of her mission. “Great with opinions” Freya is a thoughtful yet impulsive and vibrantly drawn character. Dee (Unstuck) strategically and effectively weaves Freya’s nascent feminism into timely subplots involving craftivism, the unrecognized labor of women in history, and the importance of research in this smart and passionate read. Ages 9–13. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Feb.)