One Step Forward

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Versify/HarperCollins

March 4, 2025

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Learn more about suffrage history!

One Step Forward is a compelling debut YA historical fiction novel in verse about Matilda Young—the youngest American suffragist imprisoned for picketing the White House to demand women’s right to vote.

Raised in a politically divided family, Matilda wondered if she could be as courageous as her older sister who fought for suffrage. Joining the radical protest movement came with plenty of risk. Women were routinely scorned, harassed, arrested—and worse. And taking a stand for her rights could tear her family apart.

Told in powerful verse, One Step Forward follows Matilda’s coming-of-age journey as she takes her first step into action. Amid the backdrop of World War I, Matilda’s story vividly highlights the extreme mental, physical, and emotional battles faced by the protestors leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. It also reveals the bravery, hard work, and spirit of the women who paved the way for future generations to use their voices and votes.

Praise for One Step Forward

Kirkus Starred Review

“The verse structure successfully conveys the grit, trauma, and violence of the times, adeptly emphasizing the activists’ doubt, pride, persistence, and exhaustion . . . Powerful, necessary reading.”

Publisher’s Weekly

“The plight of 19-year-old Matilda Young, the youngest suffragist arrested after picketing at the White House in 1917, is brought to life. This inspiring historical tale of perseverance experiments with formatting to connote mood. Imagined versions of suffragists such as Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell feature alongside Matilda.”

Praise from Other Poets

“An inspiring verse novel that offers a blueprint for activism, showing how courage for a cause can grow over time and that activities as small as stuffing envelopes are as important as marching. Readers will leave perhaps empowered to go forth and fight for causes important in their own lives.”
— Irene Latham, co-author of African Town, winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Outstanding Historical Fiction

“A compelling example of the way verse brings history alive, making us feel (as the brilliant back matter suggests) ‘what it felt like to be a teen at that moment in history.’ Lively, heartfelt verse keeps readers eagerly turning pages in solidarity with the immensely relatable Matilda.”

— Janet Wong, winner of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award

‘One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins marches the reader alongside teen Matilda Young, the youngest suffragist jailed for standing up for the right to vote. A wealth of historical details, poetic play with words and whitespace, and absolute relevance to young women today make this verse novel a must read!’ — Kip Wilson, award-winning author of White Rose and The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin