Sweet Dreams, Sarah

Sarah E. Goode, who was among the first African-American women to receive a patent, began her life as an enslaved person: “Before the Civil War, Sarah obeyed her owner. Hurry up. Eyes down. Don’t speak.” Following the Emancipation Proclamation, Goode moves to Chicago, where she marries a stair builder, has children, and opens a furniture store. Necessity is the mother of invention: when families approach her seeking furniture for small spaces, Goode conceives “a new kind of bed that folded up when it wasn’t being used,” Kirkfield writes. After designing and building a successful prototype—a bed that folds into a cabinet—Goode faces another hurdle: seeking a patent approval as a woman of color, a feat she achieves. Ewald illustrates the story’s people and objects elegantly using shadow and light. Kirkfield’s back matter offers a timeline and additional biographical information on this tenacious, innovative inventor. Ages 8–9. (Apr.)