Letters from a slave girl: the story of Harriet Jacobs
By: Mary E Lyons
Reviewer Rating: Four out of Five Stars
Best for: 12 and up

A Good Picture of Slavery Pre Civil War
Review by Julie Hilton

I think if this weren’t a re-write of the original book by Harriet Jacobs (Incidents in the life of a Slave) I may have given it 5 stars. However, I still learned a lot and found out very valuable to read.

The author took Harriet’s book and re wrote it in the form of letters to important people in her life. They start when she is 12. Born into slavery to a father always having trouble because he refused to act like a slave. She does have many family members in the area but some run away, die… And she tells their stories along with hers.

It’s a story that will cause anger but also insights into a person and people of great strength, perseverance and honor.

I really enjoyed this look into a proud people who’ve overcome so much. This particular lady was really incredible with her strong sense of honor. But you’ll have to read it to see what this means!

Although not overly graphic there is obvious mention of sexual, physical and verbal abuse. However, the way she words the events, I would be fine with my 12 year old reading it. I may want to discuss some things beforehand.

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Happy Reading!

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