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

Patricia C. McKissack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590259881 ISBN 13: 9780590259880

Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 1997

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Patricia C. McKissack is an award-winning author of many books for children and young adults. She is the author of two other Dear America books: Color Me Dark and Look to the Hills. She has also written many prestigious titles with her husband, Fredrick L. McKissack. They are currently working on the series The Clone Codes with their grown son, John McKissack.

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0590259881
• ISBN 13: 9780590259880
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 202