Customer Reviews

Letters From a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"Letters from a Slave Girl" is one of the best books I've read on slavery! It tells the story of Harriet Jacobs, written in letter form to her deceased relatives - similar to a diary. She tells her life over the years, as a slave, being harassed by her master, escaping, and being hidden. It's very realistic and interesting, as well as very emotional, with both good and bad times.

I'd recommend this book for ages 11 and up, and I'd also recommend "A Wolf by the Ears", "A Picture of Freedom", and "I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly", which are other great books on slavery.

I never had a clearer picture of slavery until I read this book.The Author's Note at the end was fascinating. I found that Lyons based the fictional Harriets grammar and spelling on the real Harriets letters, written twenty to thirty years after she escaped. Lyons also used real ex-slave narratives collected in North Carolina in the 1930s by the Works Project Administration. Did some of these former slaves speak in dialect? Yup. Some spoke standard English, too. Just like today, Southern speech has many voices, and thats what makes it interesting. Finally, readers of the Authors Note will discover that when the real Harriet wrote her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she, too, invented dialogue with dialect.
Have you ever noticed how Southern speech, both black and white, is often mocked in print, television, and movies? This is a quick and dirty way for the media to suggest stupidity. Without even realizing it, viewers might absorb the message that Southerners, especially African Americans, are inferior. But that message is flat-out wrong. Southern speech is loaded with metaphor, imagery, humor, and wisdom. Thats why many people enjoy reading literature set in the South. So if you are one of them, read Letters from a Slave Girl! Its about as close as you can get to an authentic Southern black voice from 19th century coastal North Carolina.

Letters from a Slave Girl: the Story of Harriet Jacob by, Mary Lyons Imagine being in an attic for seven long years of your life with no one to talk to and nothing to do except write in a journal. This is how Harriet Jacobs in the novel, Letters from a Slave Girl: the Story of Harriet Jacobs, feels. This historical fiction story is told through imaginary letters written by Harriet to her loved ones, which make this novel a fantastic piece of work. The author, Mary Lyons, takes us back to the slave era, where blacks were seen as inferiors to whites. She creates a female protagonist who is filled with such bravery and excitement, which makes her character seem so realistic. She tells this powerful story in such great detail that it leaves a trail of tissues behind. Harriet Jacobs, a slave who is seeking freedom from her mistress's father, Dr. Norcum, after being harassed verbally and physically, runs away to claim her freedom. She escapes to the attic of her grandmother's house for seven long years of her life. In the attic she has to be quiet, and is unable to move around. In the winter she freezes, and in the summer she is blistering hot. She has nothing else to do all day, except write in her journal, where she expresses her feelings since she has no one to confide in. Later she escapes to the North, where she plays an active role in helping slaves escape to the "free states." She also writes an autobiography of her life as a slave and the dreadful life she lives. She wanted to make a difference in the world, and didn't want anyone to go through the pain and suffering that she went through. This novel portrays the fact that when people go through a miserable experience in life, they try to prevent the same thing from happening to others. In this book, Harriet is petrified of Dr. Norcum, and after enduring all the pain and suffering brought on by slavery, she decides to run away to escape from all her pain, and Dr. Norcum's controlling ways. When she escapes to the "free states" she joins an abolition movement to prevent slavery. Harriet is so full of passion and perseverance, so full of fire, it gives this book its zing. Harriet is a heroine striving against a backdrop of actual events, and real characters. She reveals underlying truths in the sad histories of many slaves. This book reveals the inhumanity suffered by our ancestors. Displayed by the fictitious letter this story is written so you can successfully experience the sentimental value, which the slaves portrayed. Your emotions will run wild from anger and excitement to sadness and fear. One minute you will be sitting on your bed reading, and the next, you will be running through the woods with Harriet trying to escape to the "free states." Letters from a Slave Girl: the Story of Harriet Jacob's is a fantastic achievement. It successfully expresses the emotions that people felt in the slave era. You will fear and cry right along with the characters as though you were right there with them! This historical fiction novel is a rewarding book that will teach and inspire!

The Main Charactor is Harriet Ann who is a slave.

Letter`s From a slave girl is about 12 year old Harriet Ann who is a slave.She slaves for mistress who refuses to sell her.Harriet keeps a diary of notes to her mom,dad and R, but I dont know who R is because she refuses to write his name in her book just incase Mistress shall find it.Harriet wants to get married but mistress wont let her because he`s white and she`s black.there are a lot of preguidice people in this book and this is a long time ago before Martin Luther King Jr.In this book she talks about her mom and dad dieng and it made me cry because if my mom or dad shall ever die i would be...[sad].But Harriet will think positive sometimes but when shes talking to her grandma she tells her every thing.Harriet has a younger brother who teases her and this black boy next door.I know how she fells when she gets teased and she does not like it.

I would reccomend this book to anyone because if you ike sad books this is the right one.And if you dont like sad books than you might not like this book.when i read this book i thought my life was hard but hers was even harder because she is a slave.And also she lost her parents.So go to your library and look for `Letters From a Slave Girl` you`ll like it a lot!

The book that I am revewing is Letters From a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons. This book is about a slave girl in North Carolina. When her mother dies she is given to James Norcom and his wife, but her new master tries to sexually abuse her. She doesn't know how to stop him so she gets pregnant by another slave owner. Harriet finds out that her brother has run away while he was in a free state. Harriet decides that she has to run away and somehow bring her childrn to freedom. What will happen to Harriet? Will she escape, or will she be caught?

I really loved this book, because it tells a true story of a determined slave girl while still helping you learn how terrible slavery was. This book is great for anyone who wants to learn about slavery, or even just read a great book! You should read this book if you're looking for a suspensful story about a young girl, or if you like historical-fiction. I give this book a two thumbs up!

This book is a great book. The slave girl,Harriet,is a really smart girl and lives with a lady who refuses to give her away, her name is Gram. She also has her brother, john, with her. At the beginning of the book, Harriet is only 12 years old. She writes to her family members like her mom,dad,aunt,R,and alot of other people. She didn't say what R's real name was because if the Mistress found the letters than they would be in big trouble. Later in the book she sneaks out of the house leaving her babies behind. You'll have to read and find out if she gets caught or if she finds a place to hide.

My teacher made me read this book I didn't think it will be a good book but when I start getting to the middle it starting being a good book so I think you will like it because it give you a good idea how the book going to end.

The story, "Letters From A Slave Girl" is an excellent book! This book revealed the thoughts and feelings of a slave girl named Harriet Jacobs. She wrote what she felt in the form of a letter to loved ones. She describes her pain and emotions in the letters so really it is a diary. In the story she runs from her master, Doctor Norcom, to save her two children. She lives on the plantation still, but she hides in a cabin. She grieves because she can hear her children playing outside, but, she can not reveal that she is there because they might tell Doctor Norcom where she is. In conclusion, this book is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone interested in black history.

Letters from a Slave girl: The story of Harriet Ann Jacobs is a historical fiction book written by Mary E. Lyons. This book is a true story based on the real Harriet Jacob's book. The book is about a slave called Harriet and her struggle in life to be free. The book is all in letterform and has the black dialect of the old south. This book has many interesting events and also some tearjerkers.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it was very moving. At one point it brought tears to my eyes because she had to leave her daughter, Louisa. Also, It really opened my eyes about slavery because it showed all the strain family had and how bad slavery was. It also showed how cruel owners to slaves where.

The main character of this story is Harriet A. Jacobs. This book tells the story of how she finds a suitor. Eventually, she has babies, however they are not with her suitor. Eventually she goes north and gets free. This book is a very interesting book for history buffs and for historians.

This book is really not for kids under the age of 10 as it mentions some topics that are inappropriate. I really liked this book as it is all in the black dialect of the old south .

One of the best books to read about the life of slavery is "Letters From a Slave Girl- the Story of Harriet Jacobs" by .... This book discloses with great detail, what many slave women had to endure during this period.
This book is written in letterform. Harriet, the main character was taught to read and write by her mistress, Ms. Margret Hornblow who is now dying. With the death of her mistress Harriet feels hopeful that she will be set free. She has much faith in Ms.Horniblow because she was the only mother figure Harriet has had since her mother died.
Unfortunately Harriet was left to Ms.Horniblow's 3-year-old niece. Soon Harriet finds herself in a world of trouble. Her new Master is making sexual advances toward her. She decides to have sex with another white man to anger her master' soon she finds out that she is pregnant. Later on in the story Harriet escapes and is in hiding for seven years!
"Letters From a slave girl" will give you feelings of anger, hatred and family bonds. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read!