Just One Girl Out Now!

Trinka’s Newest Book

Just One Girl
A Fight for Equal Rights

Trinka’s timely message for today’s times!

It’s the early 1970s in America, and change is in the air. Women and girls are marching in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. It’s a time of self-expression and social change. Jillian Parker loves math, and she’s good at it too. So, when fourth graders can sign up for after-school clubs, Jillian knows exactly what she’ll choose, Math Club!

But she is met with snickers and jeers. A girl in the boy’s club? Girls aren’t smart enough. Cooking Club is where she belongs.

But Jillian knows she is smart. Yet, maybe they are right, maybe she doesn’t belong in Math Club. After all, she’s just one girl.

But after hearing about the discrimination experienced by her mother, her older neighbor and her teacher, Jillian realizes that maybe what is needed for change is for just one girl to step forward. Can Jillian be that girl?

Just One Girl is deeply personal for me because I had just graduated from college and was starting my career during this period in our nation’s history and was greatly influenced by the women’s movement and the fight for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Yet, it was a difficult period for girls and young women during that time, trying to find their way in the world and to build a career when women were discriminated against and equal rights for women was not the law of the land.

I knew I wanted Just One Girl to be an intergenerational story to showcase how girls and women throughout our history had to struggle for equal rights, to accomplish their dreams, to follow their passions and not be restricted by what society dictated for girls and women during those times. So, I drew on the women in my own family and my women ancestors to connect with their struggles and time periods to create this intergenerational tapestry of women’s history. The Author’s Note, included at the end of this book, makes it clear how my family connections are woven into the storyline.

One difficult part of the writing journey of Just One Girl was my own fervent passion for girls and women’s right, including my own struggles throughout my life. How do I convey my own deep passion without becoming heavy handed, without being overly moralizing, yet underscoring the seriousness and importance of girls and women’s rights? Somehow, my passion for this subject had to lie just beneath the storyline so the young reader could comfortably walk in Jillian’s footsteps and be transported back to 1971 to learn about this historical period in American history, yet feel Jillian’s emotions, struggles and eventual triumph as though they were their own. When that happens, when a young reader identifies so deeply with the emotional content of historical fiction that they began to wonder “did this really happen”, then, as a writer, I know I hit the mark! That, dear readers, is the power of story.

Often, when we are young, someone has offered us a helping hand, reaching out with support and encouragement, saying…here, take my hand. Maybe it was a parent or family member, or a special teacher. It might have been an older adult offering their sage wisdom or even a message in a story that helped us along the way.

Just One Girl is my hand, my writer’s hand, reaching out to all young readers everywhere with support and encouragement, saying to them…here, take my hand…read my story and know that you too can stand up for your rights. Maybe all it will take is just one girl to be the first. Know that you can be that girl.

Footnote: Here are two endorsements from professional women who care deeply about the education of young readers!

“This story brought tears to my eyes! I grew up in the same era as the author and received the same negative messages about possibilities for my future. We need changes in our country as described by these strong characters.”
– Marilyn J. Eisenwine, PhD, Professor of Teachers Education (Retired), Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas

“A heartfelt message especially for girls, but also an ageless mantra for all women! An important book for today’s times!”
– Ruth A. Keefer, PhD, Director of Curriculum, (Retired) South San Francisco School District, San Francisco, California