Eleanor Roosevelt, Fighter for Justice: Her Impact on the Civil Rights Movement, the White House, and the World

Ilene Cooper’s Eleanor Roosevelt, Fighter for Justice embraces today’s inherited controversial issues, recognizing the civil rights of African Americans, immigration, women’s entitlement, and homosexuality, sometimes kowtowing and always politically correct. All to the good, exposing young readers to outspokenness and alternative opinions, but somehow picking on Eleanor Roosevelt, setting her almost in disrepute, isn’t quite playing the game.

It’s hard to fault an author’s boldness, but the disparity between attitudes during Roosevelt’s years and today’s changes are not emphasized sufficiently. The book is brief, so there are gaps, especially in Roosevelt’s personal life, but the pages turn easily, the photos are generally fitting and interesting, and the notes, bibliography and the author’s acknowledgement are all praiseworthy.

When one holds privileged positions–in Eleanor Roosevelt’s case, financially, socially, politically, and energetically–one’s efforts may stretch too far. Adult readers may question just why she tackled all that came within her reach, but the few hints of how and why she did so demonstrate what a single life is able to accomplish. Maybe Cooper’s vigorous tone will encourage further reading, exploring more books to achieve a broader perspective.