Publishers Weekly
★ 09/25/2017
The history of the Statue of Liberty is well-known: Frenchman Édouard de Laboulaye conceived of the idea of a monument for the United States’s centennial and persuaded artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to design it. Eggers starts his own story of the statue slowly, playfully (“Did you know that the Statue of Liberty comes from France? This is true. This is a factual book”). Newcomer Harris’s friendly cut-paper spreads show the colossal statue looming over the men who build it. After detailing Liberty’s installation in New York, where it welcomed waves of immigrants, Eggers makes a startling observation: the statue’s right foot is raised: “She is on the move!” And why is this? “Liberty and freedom from oppression are not things you get or grant by standing around,” Eggers asserts. “These are things that require action. Courage. An unwillingness to rest.” Harris represents Americans of all colors—veiled, in hardhats, in yarmulkes, in hoodies—talking together, admiring the statue, becoming citizens. Eggers’s crucial and timely re-examination makes Liberty an active participant in a debate that is more contentious than ever. Ages 5–8. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Sure to be beloved by adults and children alike."—Bookish
"A must-read for every man, woman and child in the land."—The San Francisco Chronicle
“Eggers’s crucial and timely re-examination makes Liberty an active participant in a debate that is more contentious than ever.”-Publishers Weekly, starred review
“In Her Right Foot, novelist Dave Eggers and illustrator Shawn Harris spin a fascinating, engrossing tale out of a seemingly innocuous detail - and in the process, reaffirm a prescient message of inclusion. It's a friendly reminder of how America can be at its best.”—Entertainment Weekly
"In Eggers’s telling, Liberty is ready not only to greet travelers coming home and those seeking refuge, but to stride forth to welcome them."—The Washington Post
"The careful layering and pacing of this book is chilling. It demands re-reading and sharing with others."—Charlotte News and Observer
A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of the Year
BookPage Best Children's Books of the Year
"Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America’s most emblematic statue... What they find in the Statue of Liberty’s right foot is the powerful message of acceptance that is essential of an entire country’s creation." —Book Riot
“Witty, moving.”-Wall Street Journal
A Mighty Girl Books of the Year
’ILA Teachers Choices 2018 Reading List
"A fascinating, engrossing tale."—Entertainment Weekly, The Must List
"One part stand-up routine, one part ode to the values that we as a nation have long held dear. Funny, smart, timely, and true."—Leonard S. Marcus, - historian, critic, and author of Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing
“Fresh and compelling, and its ending is everything you could possibly want it to be.”-Chicago Tribune
School Library Journal
★ 09/01/2017
Gr 3 Up—This beautifully designed and conversational yet sophisticated book about the history of the iconic statue is also filled with humor and interesting trivia. Explanations of the construction, size, and eventual color of the statue are explained and illustrated in simple, accessible terms. While the first two-thirds of the book offer information about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the green giant, the final portion is a more editorialized, poetic discussion of the back of her right foot. "She is going somewhere! She is on the move!…she weighs 450,000 pounds, and she is moving…where is she going?" Apparently not to "Soho to get a panini" nor "to the West Village to look for vintage Nico records." No, this welcoming lady has loftier goals. Though she has already greeted thousands of Poles, Norwegians, Cambodians, Estonians, Somalis, Syrians, and others, "It never ends. It cannot end. And this is why she's moving. This is why she's striding. In welcoming the poor, the tired, the struggling to be free. She is not content to wait. She must meet them in the sea." Harris's vibrant impressionistic illustrations, rendered in construction paper collage and india ink, offer thought-provoking, varied perspectives on both the statue and the text. The unpaged tribute is far longer than the usual picture book length of 32 pages, but never wordy. VERDICT A unique and important contribution to be enjoyed by both children and adults; a must-purchase.—Barbara Auerbach, formerly at New York City Public Schools
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-07-17
Everyone knows what the Statue of Liberty stands for—but, as Eggers notes, she's not actually "standing" at all. Taking his time, as usual, at getting to the point, Eggers opens with the often told tale of the monument's origins, preliminary construction, deconstruction, and shipping to "a city called New York, which is in a state also called New York." He describes the statue's main features, from crown to gown ("a very heavy kind of garment," likely to cause "serious lower back issues")—and points out that her right heel is not planted but lifted. What does this signify? That "…she is walking! This 150 foot woman is on the go!" She's stepping out into the harbor, he suggests, to give new arrivals from Italy and Norway, Cambodia and Estonia, Syrians, Liberians, and all who have or will come an eager welcome. After all, he writes, she's an immigrant too, and: "She is not content to wait." In Harris' ink-and-construction-paper collages, Parisian street scenes give way to close-up views of the brown (later green) ambulatory statue, alternating with galleries of those arrivals and their descendants, who are all united in their very diversity of age, sex, dress, and skin color. Photos, including one of the Emma Lazarus poem, cap this urgent defense of our "Golden Door." Occasionally mannered but heartfelt throughout and indisputably timely. (bibliography, source list) (Picture book. 9-13, adult)
