Local Author Sarah Warren Celebrates Stacey Abrams in New Children's Book, Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice

Article by Becky Fillinger

I am in a perpetual starstruck state at the abundance of talented writers who live in our community. Meet Sarah Warren – her new children’s book on Stacey Abrams is timely, relevant and inspiring. The children (and honestly, the adults) in your life will love it.

Stacy AbramsQ:  A Kirkus book review of Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice calls it an “important, uplifting biography with historical and contemporary significance.” I agree. Why did you decide to write a children’s book about the life of Stacey Abrams?   

A:  How could I resist? Stacey Abrams is an extraordinary human being. She is a straight up superstar at this point, but I knew young people would relate to her story. Her clarity of purpose, wisdom, confidence and optimism lit me up back in 2020, the first time I heard her speak on Oprah’s Super Soul podcast. I wanted to spread that light. 

I love writing books about cool women who use their everyday powers to change the world. I tell stories about my heroes. I also USE stories about heroes to talk to young people about abstract concepts like persistence, purpose, service and equality. When readers read the biographies I’ve written, they see these ideas come to life. This book is about Stacey Abrams. It’s also about power: How can we get it? What do we do when it’s taken away? How can we share it with our families, our neighbors, our country and our world? I felt pretty powerless back in 2020. Stacey Abrams inspired me to use my voice. I used it to write this book. 

Q:  Has Stacey Abrams read your tribute to her?

A:  What have you heard? Has she said anything to you? Don’t tell me. She loves it though, right? 

I really wanted to talk to Stacey about this book. Honestly, I’d listened to Lead from the Outside so many times it felt like we HAD talked, but instead of interviewing her, she spent the whole time cheering me on and teaching me how to achieve my goals and transform the world. 

I prefer to work with the people I write about, but that wasn’t possible with this biography. In my quest to work with Stacey Abrams, however, I met lots of people who did. They shared story after story about how happy they were to follow her lead. When I’m out on the town with copies of Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice, strangers rush over to tell me about the times they saw her speak, or canvassed for her, or read her books. She has touched so many lives already. She uses her voice to motivate people all over the world. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Q:  Throughout your book, readers learn of Abrams’ question to herself - “How can I help?” Do you hope to inspire young readers to question troubling situations and ask themselves how to remedy the situations? 

A:  Absolutely! It’s easy to feel helpless. I know. I love my country. I want it to stop hurting people, but how? When oppression is systemic and sneaky, change feels impossible. Where do we even start? I want my readers to know that it’s okay to start small. Stacey Abrams learned at a young age that everyone can do something to help. Her family didn’t have a lot, but they gave their time, their talents, and their love. She grew up and found bigger and bigger ways to help people, but her motivation never changed. She fights to make sure we all have what we need to be our best. We can all make a difference. “How can I help?” is a great place to start.  

Q:  Lift Every Voice and Sing is known as the Black National Anthem. What were your thoughts in including it in the title of a book devoted to Stacey Abrams? 

A:  “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a history lesson. It’s a call to action. It’s music. Music is powerful.

Have you ever been at church or school or at a concert, anyplace where the people around you start singing? If you’re like me, you get caught up in how all the different voices bump against each other. It’s so weird. We’re strangers! We haven’t practiced! I hear youthful voices perking up here and there, and elders who can riff off of the melodies they know by heart. I worry my voice doesn’t fit. But when I finally relax and quit being self-conscious, I can feel the tender hum of pure, determined creation. I feel my community. We are all so different, but here we are, building this beautiful moment together. The Black National Anthem invites us to know and feel the world like this. The text tells listeners so much about our country, our strength, our struggle, and our potential. I referenced this song because I believe James Weldon Johnson and his brother knew how to unite our voices and Stacey Abrams does too. 

Q:  Do you have book reading and signing events scheduled for Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice? I sure hope so! 

A:  You can order signed copies of my book from Crown the Writer at crownthewriter.com. You can find out more about upcoming events at picturebookparade.com and sarahwbooks.com. Follow me on Twitter - Come find me!