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triscuit807 's review for:
Amos Fortune, Free Man
by Elizabeth Yates
3.5-4 stars. Amos Fortune was a real man and this is his fictionalized biography. I can put myself 70 years in the past and see what a revolutionary book this is, but in 2020 it comes off as a bit patronizing and Amos Fortune seems a pollyanna at best, an Uncle Tom at worst. A prince, he was taken as a slave when he was 15, endured the Middle Passage, and was always looking for his younger sister among the slaves. He had the luck of being purchased by two "good" masters. The first, Copeland, a Quaker who integrated him into the household and paid him - treated him as an indentured servant. His death necessitated selling Fortune on, but he once again landed with a "good" master, Richardson, a master tanner who taught him that trade. When R died, Fortune was able to purchase his freedom from the estate. He does marry, purchasing his wife's freedom both times. The second wife, Violet,( and her daughter) journeys with him to Jaffrey where he sets up a tannery and they live out the rest of their lives. Several things struck me, the largest is that the American Revolution is mostly a non-happening and has no effect on the lives of the people of Jaffrey. The next is that indenture and slavery coexist side by side; Fortune acquires several indentures. At one point he also purchases the vendue/care of one of Jaffrey's indigent (a concept that was completely new to me). So is this Newbery still a valuable read? Yes, if it's used to discuss slavery vs. indenture and how vendue fits into a compassionate society. I read this for my 2020 Reading Challenge ( and my Newbery Challenge (Award 1951)