The Day Madear Voted

A moving look at a Black family’s journey to exercise their right to vote and imagine a better future.

Charlie and Ralph’s mom has waited a long time to vote because countless obstacles have been put in Black people’s way to stop them from having a say in elections--obstacles that it took a lot of hard work to tear down. But now, in 1969, Madear is going to vote for the very first time, and the boys are coming along on this exciting day. A day that puts a new bounce in their mom’s step, and enables them all to begin to dream of a better future.

Wade Hudson and Don Tate give young readers a warm family story as well as a powerful glimpse into the struggle that had to be waged to achieve a fundamental right of citizenship.

Wade Hudson is the author of more than thirty-five books for young readers, including the middle grade memoir Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South, winner of the 2022 Malka Penn award, and the anthologies We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices; The Talk, a New York Times Best Book of the Year; and Recognize: Black Lives Matter (all co-edited with his wife, Cheryl Willis Hudson). He is the president and co-founder of Just Us Books, Inc. Wade speaks around the country about issues of inclusion and diversity and has received numerous honors for his contributions to children’s literature, including the Children’s Book Council’s Diversity Achievement Award and a 2022 Eric Carle Honor. He lives in East Orange, New Jersey. You can visit Wade at JustUsBooks.com or follow him on Instagram @WadeHudsonJr and on Twitter @HudsonWade.

Don Tate is the award-winning creator of numerous picture book biographies, including Jerry Changed the Game! How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever; Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes; William Still and His Freedom Stories: The Father of the Underground Railroad; and Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, among others. Don’s accolades include an Ezra Jack Keats Book Award and Honor, Carter G. Woodson Book Awards, Christopher Awards, and SCBWI Crystal and Golden Kite Awards. In addition to writing and illustrating, Don enjoys speaking at elementary schools. He lives with his family in Austin, Texas, and invites you to visit him online at dontate.com.