A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia 1859 (Dear America Series) (Hardcover)

by Patricia C. McKissack (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6. Clotee is an orphan living on the plantation of "Mas' Henley" and "Miz Lilly." Her owners have put her to work fanning Miz Lilly and her young son William during tutoring sessions. William may not be keen to learn, but Clotee is. She has learned to read while looking over the boy's shoulder and eventually she teaches herself how to write. She practices her newfound skills by writing in a makeshift, secret diary, which is found by William's new tutor. Luckily, he turns out to be an abolitionist. Through his work, Clotee helps some of her friends escape to the North, but she herself chooses to stay behind on the plantation as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Clotee is such a vibrant, fully rounded character that it is almost painful to think of her left on the plantation while her friends and fellow slaves go to freedom. McKissack brings Clotee alive through touching and sobering details of slave life, told in such a matter-of-fact way that their often brutal nature is made abundantly clear. However, this is in no way a depressing book. In fact, it is an inspiring look at a young girl coming of age in terrible circumstances who manages to live life to the fullest.?Melissa Hudak, Northern Illinois Medical Center, McHenry, IL
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Having secretly taught herself how to read and write, Clotee, a brave twelve-year-old Virginia slave, witnesses the horrors of slavery and eventually becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 202 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590259881
• ISBN-13: 978-0590259880
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #559,026 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Dear America Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story about the power of literacy in a slave girl's life., August 4, 2000

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Clotee has lived all twelve years of her life as a slave on the Belmont Plantation in Virginia. Now it's 1859, just before the start of the Civil War. Although she has known no life other than that of a slave, she has secretly learned how to read and write, and that ability gives her a glimpse of the world out there. To practice, she keeps a secret diary that she hides in a hollowed-out tree. An orphan most of her life, Clotee has managed to make the best of her circumstances, and writing is one of the few things that brings her any joy. When a tutor comes to the plantation to teach the master's young son, Clotee figures that he'll just be another predjudiced southerner. But he's an abolitionist that further expands Clotee's horizons, and he may be able to give her the one thing she longs for: freedom. I highly reccomend this beautifully written account of one year in the life of a fictional slave girl who lived in circumstances typical of the time. The fact that it is told through Clotee's diary allows the reader to really get inside her head and know her innermost thoughts, hopes, and dreams.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Picture of Freedom: A Exellent Diary of a Slave Girl, December 5, 2001

By	Veronica Lee (Mt. Kisco, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This book is about Clotee, who is a 12 years old slave girl in Belmont Plantation, Virginia. She taught herself how to read and write. Her mom was sold to other plantation and died when she was young. Clotee grew by Aunt Tee and Uncle Heb. Her friends were Hince, spicy and Wook. Wook was killed when she tried to runaway. Clotee met Mr. Harms who was an abolitionist on the Underground Railroad. She wanted to be an abolitionist too.

In the book, Clotee shares her feelings, experiences and thoughts about slavery. She describes her life on the plantation and talks about the Underground Railroad. I liked this book because it gave me a window onto the live of slaves in 1859. The details were very vivid. I also liked this book because it taught the lesson that if a person has a goal ad dream, he/she should go for it and they will reach it. Another reason that I liked this book is it showed me how terrible slavery was an how wrong it was. I recommend this book to any teenager who is studying the U.S. Civil War or slavery.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful story on a brave girl, September 29, 2000

By	Melanie (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews

A Picture of Freedom is a wonderful story on slavery - the best I've read!

In 1859, 12 year old Clotee lives on the Belmont Plantation in Virginia, where she works in the "big house". She's used to hard work and obeying her master - except for one thing. Clotee teaches herself to read.

Through this diary that Clotee keeps, you follow her life, with her working and making friends, her thoughts about escaped slaves, her worries that her diary will be found, and her learning about abolitionists, who her master hates! When a teacher comes to the plantation to tutor the boy there, she finds out his secret. Can he help her?

This was a great, exciting book on a brave slave girl, and I'd recommend it for ages 10 - 14! I'd also recommend some other books on slavery, Letters from a Slave Girl, and I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly.