A review by bekabeka
A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia 1859 by Patricia C. McKissack

5.0

Wow. I realize this is a children's book, but I had another one of the books in the Dear America series as a child that I loved dearly and just recently found out there were many more. This one felt like required reading and I was right. It feels wrong to say a book written from the perspective of a slave is "excellent," but it should genuinely be required reading for all. For kid-friendly font size and wording, it was absolutely gripping. After that epilogue, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if this was actually a true story or not.. I don't often write reviews, but this one was simultaneously excellent, devastating, "easy to read" as far as racism/slavery can be, and an absolute gut punch in the feels. Whether you are just beginning your journey in being actively anti-racist, or this is a subject you want to learn more about, or you like reading books for kids, really no matter what you are interested in, read this.