  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 10/01/2010 Gr 1–3—Parallel stories tell of a poem written by Wheatley that inspired General Washington during the Revolutionary War. Born in Africa, Phillis was taken by slave traders and sold in Boston as a young girl. Her owners, the Wheatleys, allowed their daughter to teach her to read. They were amazed by the poems she soon began to write. Her abilities challenged many people's convictions that slaves had low intelligence and could not be educated. After being freed, Wheatley decided to take up another cause. In 1775, she wrote a poem about freedom and sent it to Washington. He wrote back, thanking her for her confidence in him. For Washington's part of the story, the author concentrates on the difficult winter of 1775–'76, when the Continental Army was camped in Massachusetts, keeping the British Army bottled up nearby in Boston. Including both individuals places Wheatley into chronological context and broadens the appeal of this picture book. Oil paintings help readers gain a sense of the period.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 09/01/2010 Camped in Cambridge in the fall of 1775, General Washington despairs that his soldiers won’t ever be able to defeat the British. In Providence, freed slave Phillis Wheatley pens a poem of encouragement to Washington. Malaspina intertwines information about Wheatley’s early life (brought to Boston as a slave, she learned to read and write and was eventually set free) with wartime events, including details of how Washington held his army together during a difficult winter, arranging for military supplies from Fort Ticonderoga to be delivered in the early spring. Upon seeing Washington’s new armaments, the British retreated, giving the colonists their first victory. Keeter’s rich oil paintings are full of period details that help to clarify both the war scenes and Wheatley’s life. Although the connection between Washington and Wheatley is somewhat tenuous, the story should help young readers to see the bigger picture of both the war and colonial life. Appended with further information. - Copyright 2010 Booklist. Loading...
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