A historical novel in verse about an ordinary citizen who becomes a foot soldier in a long battle by many people to create the National Federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Her story begins in Memphis, Tennessee with the sanitation workers’ strike for better working conditions. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis at the time of his assassination because he was helping this cause. This had a profound effect on the young Kathlyn. These marches were some of the author’s earliest steps in speaking up for a cause which she went back to years later during the attempts in the late 70’s and early 80’s to create a law through Congress to create the national holiday. The poems in the book emphasize the long term commitment to change that was required to build momentum and create a law. And while some of the process required legal action in Congress, much of the process happened because of ordinary citizens. There is a nice visual at the end of the book showing all of the steps required to have a bill become a law. I appreciated the accessibility of the verse style, as well as the bibliography at the end to help readers understand the historical accuracy of her story. This is a verse novel that I expect will get checked out a lot in my library!