Customer Reviews

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I loved this book more than any other Historical fiction novel that I've ever read! It is the story of a young black girl who is kidnapped from her home in Africa, and taken on a slave ship to Boston Mass.{They give you a detailed account of how she was caught and her journey} Soon after, she is taken in by the Wheatley family, and treated as a daughter, not a slave. Nathanial, John Wheately's son, teaches her to read and write. The Wheately's soon realize, that she has a great talent for writing poetry! So, they take her to England to have it published.{because she is black and a woman, they won't publish her work in America}. Once in England, Benjamin Franklin tells her that now that she is in England, she is free! So, the question is, will she betray the family that has treated her so well? Or will she take her long wanted freedom?

When I first learned that I had to read this book for school and what it was about, I began being pessimistic about how interesting the book would be. I was very wrong, though...very wrong.
This book is a fiction AND non-fiction book about Phillis Wheatley, a girl who was kidnapped at the age of seven by her greedy uncle's people, as the story says. The rest of the book is about the Wheatleys and their kindness, Nathaniel and Phillis's surprising love for him, Phillis's childhood and entry into young womenhood, her relationships with everyone, and how her intelligence made her different from every other Negro. Phillis tries to discover who she is, as she feels white on the inside, Negro on the outside, on the side of the British, and American. She is shameful of her looks, as most teenagers are, but she wishes to be white. Her Negro friends try to tell her, but she never listens. The plot is wonderful!!!!
I am astonished at how wonderful this book was and how well explained it was. I love how Rinaldi makes up her own story at times to fit what she thinks of Phillis. The book is one of the best I have read in a while. I am amazed!!!
Now that I know what a greatr author Rinaldi is, I will now read "The Fifth of March", which is also on my summer book list.

The life long yearning for an unattainable man, unlike what Hollywood would have you believe, does not always end happily, as the main character in Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons, could explain. Ann Rinaldi's thrilling historical fiction novel about the life of the famous balck poet, Phillis Wheatley, shows the maturation of Phillis from a young girl captured in her homeland of Africa and sold as a slave in America to a lovely young lady with a published poetry book. Upon first viewing of the only son in her new family, Phillis develops very loving feelinds towards Nathaniel Wheatley, and the two form a very special relationship, all the time Nathaniel oblivious to her feelings. Everyone, except for the object of her desire, understood and warned Phillis that nothing would come of the crush, but Phillis refused to believe this. Her belief that love would overcome all the racial barriers which separated her from Nathaniel was brought down. Nathaniel, who became a very wealthy merchant, married a beautiful young English woman. Phillis was heart broken, but eventually overcame her hurt and found new happiness in her life. Throughout this book, the reader goes through every one of Phillis' emotions with her, and anyone who believes in the statement "Love conquers all", should not read this book unless they pepare themselves to be disappointed at the end results. Although not finding the love she was looking for, Phillis did find love and the ending of the book is not unhappy, even though the desired events do not take place.

"Hang a Thousand Trees With Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley" is not one of my favorite books by Ann Rinaldi, but I enjoyed it very much. Having not know anything about Phillis Wheatley, this book told me everything I could possibly ever want to know. The great thing about Rinaldi's books is, that at the end of the story, she tells you what really happened, what didn't happen, who is real, and who is fictional - something many Historical Fiction authors do not do often. The only thing I didn't like was how it seemed Ann Rinaldi did not know if she wanted to make us believe Phillis was a spoiled brat or a young girl who didn't know any better. I still give this book five stars, since this story was told quite well. I recommend.

The book Hang a Thousand Trees With Ribbonsis by the well known author Ann Rinaldi. The book is a fictional biography. It is the story of Phillis Wheatley. The events of this book are real, but all the details were filled in by the author.
Phillis Wheatley, originally "Keziah" before she was renamed by her first owner, was a slave. She was born in Senegal, Africa and was captured by slave traders as a child along with her mother and friend, Obour. On the ship to America she experiences great tragedy when her mother is thrown overboard. In America, she is sold to a very kind family. The family son, Nathaniel, teaches Phillis to read and write because of her unusual ability to read a few words on her own with no previous learning. Eventually, she begins to write on her own, forming poetry. Many reject her poetry and do not believe it is really hers, mainly because she is African American. She must go to court to prove that it is in fact, hers. Will she be punished for taking credit for poetry that isn't hers, or will she be honored by African Americans forever because of her feats?
This book was veyr uplifting and inspirational. I would suggest this book to anyone who likes history or historical fiction. This book was a good way to learn without being bored!

At the age of 7, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped from her home country, Senegal, and was abusively shipped over to America along with her mother and friend. Although she drifted apart from her family, Phillis was bought and taken in by the rich Wheatley household. There, her master and lady treated her like family, and she luckily found an education at the household, taught to her by Nathaniel, the master's son. Over the years, her intelligence expanded and she began to write amazing poems by the age of 12, later becoming the first black poet to publish her own book. Even though her name became well known among the wealth, she was still treated differently which caused difficulties for her. Through this story, I have learned as a reader, the complications Phillis experiences and her triumph of becoming the first black poet.
There are truly many wonderfully written parts of this historical fiction book, but among my favorites are the times when Nathaniel and Phillis were together. This starting from the first time she walked through the house, to the moments when he first taught her to read. Being 10 years older than Phillis, Nathaniel acted as a close brother to her, unlike how masters normally interacted with their slaves. There were also times when Nathaniel and Phillis would tease each other, which would leave the reader thinking if Phillis really was a slave. Because of these significant moments, I found the book to be much more interesting.
As a piece of historical fiction, I was able to understand how some masters treated their slaves. For a fact, I know that most didn't treat their slaves with such care as the Wheatleys did to Phillis. So, it was especially interesting to know that Nathaniel had spent his free time teaching Phillis. I was not only able to learn about Phillis, a woman not frequently mentioned in texts, but I was also able to find out about her personality. Rinaldi brought her character to life, and I was truly touched and fascinated at the same time at some specific parts of the story.

As an 8th grade US History teacher, I find this book a great way to teach about both an individual (Phillis Wheatley) and a specific time period. This biography is well-researched and makes learning about slavery and the revolutionary war a great addition to the history textbook. Phillis Wheatley endures great pain in her young life first being sold as a slave and then spending most of her life proving herself - simply because she is black. At first her goal is to please Nathanial Wheatley whom she adores, but later she comes to terms with learning about herself and where she fits in a world where being black affords very few opportunities. Along with a book of Phillis Wheatley's poems, this is a wonderful book to use in a US History classroom from a variety of perspectives - the slavery issue, African American history, and women's studies.

This realistic book shows the world throught the eyes of Phillis Wheatley, a slave girl. Struggling for her place as the first American black poet, Phillis seems real and has her problems, her dislikings, her dilemmas with everyday life, making her seem real. Phillis also has her problems with her race and differences. This book shows how a talented black slave fares in America, a white man's world. This book is wonderful!

What a wonderful library find I found! I never knew who she was, but what an awesome story. I thought a lot though, I do believe the Wheatleys only took her as far as they wanted, for their pleasure and not for her's. Maybe Mrs. Wheatley and her husband but I do believe Nathaniel did use her for his own purposes. I wonder if he had feelings for her as well and knew better than to say or act.

I read the author tried to stay as close to her story as possible. That makes it really wonderful and heartbreaking to read about her accounts on the ship. I already have some others that this author wrote on my list.

I picked this book up off of my shelf, because I am currently awaiting the arrival of other books I order. The last book I read I had also randomly selected and it turned out to be a WONDERFUL book.(Rebels Angels). This book however was okay. I am normally a fan of Ann Rinaldi, however this book just didn't take me in as her other books have. I thought that Phillis could have done much more with her gift. Especially towards the end of the book. She always seemed to taken aback by things that happened. When what was happening was obvious to happen earlier in the book. She was also so distracted most of the book that she failed to see what was their all along. In my personal opinion she cried to much. I wanted to say come on whats happened is past get up and do something about it. If you only pay attention to what is written on the page you won't like this book a whole lot in MY OPINION. If you read between the lines though and you get the meanings and the struggle of this poor child you will enjoy this book. I read this book in 2 days and I thought that what was written had a deeper meaning and by the end of the book I got that. So if you read this book which you may like read the whole book. Don't give up on it because by the end of the book you find the true meaning.


A devoted reader M.A.R.


I have decided that because I am under the age of 13 I am going to write a review for every book I read and sign it with M.A.R or M.R. so I hope on day I will see a review I wrote when I was 12. Just so you people know why I sign my reviews.