Woelfle, Gretchen. Answering The Cry For Freedom.

Woelfle, Gretchen.  Answering The Cry For Freedom.  Boyd’s Mills/Calkins Creek  2016  238p   $18.95  ISBN 978-1-62979-306-1     ms/jr            Collective biography  E-BN

Thirteen important African American figures who were fighting against slavery at the time of the American Revolution are profiled in this excellent illustrated history book. We meet such colorful characters as Jarena Lee, a house slave who gave up her family and home to travel widely preaching against slavery, Philadelphia’s own Richard Allen, who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Sally Hemings, who succumbed to Thomas Jefferson’s every whim in exchange for her children’s future freedom.  Each chapter includes dates of birth and death, biographical details, and stories that have come down through the ages about these larger-than-life individuals who paved the way for the Abolitionist Movement and the Underground Railroad. The type is large and easy-to-read for middle-school and even elementary students, but the information will appeal to all ages, even adults. There is a lot to learn in these pages.  The book also includes extensive research notes, a good bibliography, citation information, and guides for further research on each freedom fighter.  The illustrations are subtle and enhance the text, done in black-and-white drawings by Gregory Christie.  This one is a must-have for public and school libraries, even those serving older kids, because the information is so compelling and is largely unknown by most readers.     

Summary: Thirteen important African American figures who were fighting against slavery at the time of the American Revolution are profiled in this excellent illustrated history book.      

African Americans                                                                                                      —Carol Kennedy