Scan barcode
A review by huncamuncamouse
A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia 1859 by Patricia C. McKissack
5.0
I remember staying up to read this because I couldn't put it down. I put a blanket up against my bedroom door to block out the light. I had a similar experience of not wanting to stop reading because it is a suspenseful story. This feels like a real diary, so I was unsurprised that Patricia McKissack spoke of how she felt like she was channeling Clotee while she was writing.
This book details the horrors of slavery in ways that are age appropriate, so I really do recommend that children read it. I think this has aged really well. While there are a couple of white allies, it's clear that Clotee is her own savior.
If there is one criticism, it's that Clotee's story is a pretty happy one (comparatively) with a lot of unlikely good fortune that I can assume most other enslaved people did not experience. She's literate, she has the aforementioned white allies, and she never really faces abuse that we know other characters experience. But the good thing is that this isn't trauma porn.
Dead parent count: 1 (before the book begins). Bonus: It's not actually a bonus, but other enslaved characters die when they try to escape or the master just feels like taking a punishment too far.
This book details the horrors of slavery in ways that are age appropriate, so I really do recommend that children read it. I think this has aged really well. While there are a couple of white allies, it's clear that Clotee is her own savior.
If there is one criticism, it's that Clotee's story is a pretty happy one (comparatively) with a lot of unlikely good fortune that I can assume most other enslaved people did not experience. She's literate, she has the aforementioned white allies, and she never really faces abuse that we know other characters experience. But the good thing is that this isn't trauma porn.
Dead parent count: 1 (before the book begins). Bonus: It's not actually a bonus, but other enslaved characters die when they try to escape or the master just feels like taking a punishment too far.