Allison's Book Bag

When offered the opportunity to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of When Jackie Saved Grand Central, I jumped at the chance. I have a soft spot in my heart for stories about activists, especially female ones. I also felt intrigued to learn more about America’s former first lady and her role in the fight to preserve a New York landmark. Natasha Wing has written an inspiring story of a little-known part of American history, and the illustrations by Alexandra Boiger are just as delightful.

If Grand Central Station goes all of the landmarks in this country will go as well.—Jackie Kennedy

Even before Jackie Kennedy became the First Lady, she had a passion for historical icons and beauty. She demonstrated this love when she moved into the White House in 1961 by redesigning her new home to showcase not just art but also presidential history. Jackie also helped create the National Historical Preservation Act, which paved the wave for protecting national heritage treasures including that of Grand Central Station. But that’s not all! Jackie also fought to save other monuments too, such as St. Bartholomew’s church, which was at risk of being turned into an office building. Natasha Wing’s picture book focuses on Jackie’s battle, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, to save the famous New York train station.

Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there is nothing left of her history and beauty to inspire our children? —Jackie Kennedy

As part of her battle, Jackie had a lot of work to do: joining city leaders and founding a committee to save the station, speaking at press conferences, inspiring citizens to save money, writing letters to the mayor, and running crusades to gain attention for the cause. One might consider it a negative that a former first lady is leader of this historical fight. After all, Jackie had the advantage of a presidential position to help her. But then if you think of all the steps that even she as the first lady had to take, I view her as a positive role model for all activists today. Saving anything that one considers worthwhile takes work, lots of it, and yet Jackie stuck with it until she accomplished her goal. Her actions should serve as an inspiration to anyone who has faced a challenge.

The style and illustrations of When Jackie Saved Grand Central equal in quality to the story. I appreciate how the vocabulary is both appropriate to younger readers, but also contains challenging words such as conferences, magnificent, demonstrate, and influential. As for the ink and watercolor illustrations, the colors have been carefully chosen. A flaming red highlights moments of struggle, while dark grey emphasizes moments of sadness, and soft yellow shows happier moments. When Jackie Saved Grand Central will educate and motivate readers of all ages.

Related Posts

• Interview with Natasha Wing