"Lasky shows not only the facts of Wheatley’s life but also the pain of being an accomplished black woman in a segregated world." — Booklist
In 1761, a young girl was sold to the Wheatley family in Boston, who named her Phillis after the slave schooner that had carried her. Kidnapped from her home in Africa and shipped to America, she’d had everything taken from her-her family, her name, and her language. But Phillis had a passion to learn. Amid the tumult of the Revolutionary War, Phillis Wheatley became a poet and ultimately had a book of verse published, establishing herself as the first African- American woman poet this country had ever known. Back matter includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, sources, and an index.
SELECTION IRA Teachers' Choices
SELECTION NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies
Lasky's lyrical text combines perfectly with Paul Lee's illustrations to convey Wheatly's remarkable spirit, as well as the tumultuous times in which she lived. —Washington Post Book World
Lasky shows how Wheatley's struggle for personal identity and respect paralleled the prevailing political talk of freedom and revolution. Lee's carefully researched paintings give a vivid picture of colonial Boston through the eyes of an extraordinary woman. —San Francisco Chronicle
In this moving picture book, biographer Kathryn Lasky traces important themes in Phillis's poetry while noting the terrible way slavery rendered so many voiceless. —Washington Parent
Lasky shows not only the facts of Wheatley's life but also the pain of being an accomplished black woman in a segregated world. —Booklist
"Lasky shows not only the facts of Wheatley’s life but also the pain of being an accomplished black woman in a segregated world." — Booklist
In 1761, a young girl was sold to the Wheatley family in Boston, who named her Phillis after the slave schooner that had carried her. Kidnapped from her home in Africa and shipped to America, she’d had everything taken from her-her family, her name, and her language. But Phillis had a passion to learn. Amid the tumult of the Revolutionary War, Phillis Wheatley became a poet and ultimately had a book of verse published, establishing herself as the first African- American woman poet this country had ever known. Back matter includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, sources, and an index.
Awards
SELECTION IRA Teachers' Choices
SELECTION NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies
Praise
Lasky's lyrical text combines perfectly with Paul Lee's illustrations to convey Wheatly's remarkable spirit, as well as the tumultuous times in which she lived. —Washington Post Book World
Lasky shows how Wheatley's struggle for personal identity and respect paralleled the prevailing political talk of freedom and revolution. Lee's carefully researched paintings give a vivid picture of colonial Boston through the eyes of an extraordinary woman. —San Francisco Chronicle
In this moving picture book, biographer Kathryn Lasky traces important themes in Phillis's poetry while noting the terrible way slavery rendered so many voiceless. —Washington Parent
Lasky shows not only the facts of Wheatley's life but also the pain of being an accomplished black woman in a segregated world. —Booklist
