From School Library Journal
Gr 6-8-Landau has chosen excerpts from four accounts of life under slavery and how these individuals obtained their freedom. In her introduction, she points out that slaves waged open rebellions and silent ones. Austin Steward was a house slave, saved from the rigors of field work, but he had to sleep on the floor of his master's bedroom, curled up like a dog on the floorboards. Taken to New York with his owner, he sought support from the Manumission Society. Louis Hughes and his wife were denied the freedom that was rightfully theirs by birth and only after the intervention of two brave Union soldiers did they manage to secure their birthright. Bethany Veney ultimately secured freedom for herself and most of her family. James L. Smith, mistakenly stated in the text as to have been born in 1881, managed to escape from bondage to the North. Each narrative is compelling in its details of the hardships that slaves faced in their daily lives and the risks and sacrifices they made to obtain their freedom. Photographs and period illustrations complement the moving text. Interestingly no mention is made of Julius Lester's great work, To Be a Slave (Dial, 1968), in the suggestions for further reading. A good introduction to the topic as well as a telling account about slave life in various circumstances.
Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. This introductory volume, part of the In Their Own Voices series, combines the immediacy of individual voices with general historical background. Testimonies by former slaves and rescuers personalize the history: the horror of daily life on the plantation, the anguish of family separation, the danger of escape, the thrill of rescue and sometimes reunion. There's an odd error (one slave is said to have been born in 1881), but Landau provides clear documentation for the individual accounts as well as excellent Web site and book sources that will encourage further reading. The spacious, readable design, with large clear type, includes many period black-and-white photographs and prints. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
