Status
Available
Call number
Call number
PB Rin
Local notes
PB Rin
Collections
Genres
Publication
Scholastic Paperbacks (1993), Edition: 1st Printing, 272 pages
Description
Harriet Hemings, rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, one of his black slaves, struggles with the problems facing her--to escape from the velvet cage that is Monticello, or to stay, and thus remain a slave.
Awards
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Middle Grade — 1996)
Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 1994)
Iowa Teen Award (Nominee — 1995)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1992)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (Multicultural Fiction — 1997)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1991
Physical description
272 p.; 4.25 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member gbjefferso
Harriet Hemmings, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemmings, longs to be told the truth of her heritage. At the age of 21 she is given her freedom but must make the difficult choice of leaving her past behind as she passes as a white woman. Story for older young adults in
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exploring topics of slavery, freedom, and alienation. Cross curricula book that can be used in history, English, ethics and government classes. A bibliography is included for further research. A bit slow moving at timesHa Show Less
LibraryThing member bridgetrwilson
Written before the conclusive DNA testing that proved Thomas Jefferson did have children with his slave Sally Hemings, Rinaldi's book explores the struggle of Sally's daughter Harriet to understand who she is. She is a light-skinned slave. There are rumors that the master is her father. Her freedom
If you're interested in the controversy over Jefferson and Sally Hemings, this is a riveting read.
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is guaranteed at age 21, but does she dare to take it? Her options are to stay on the plantation where she surely will be married to another slave, to leave the plantation as a free nigra, or to leave the plantation and pass as white. If you're interested in the controversy over Jefferson and Sally Hemings, this is a riveting read.
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LibraryThing member whybehave2002
A window of the other side of things. I chose this because Monticello is a favorite place of mine. Anything written about a place I've been ups it for me. I have walked those lawns and thought of the others who have done the same throughout time. Beautiful.
LibraryThing member NadineC.Keels
Harriet Hemings loves her life at Monticello, where the former president Thomas Jefferson is head of the plantation. Although Harriet calls Jefferson "Master," she's never felt the reality of her enslavement, and rumor has it that she and her siblings are the master's mulatto children. Now the
I was thirteen or so the first time I read this YA novel. It was quite the experience for me, getting me to chew on layered concepts that were still new to me at the time, such as the practice of some light-skinned people of color passing for white.
I'll admit my youth and the newness of it all for me back then had me more entranced (so to speak) than I was this time. While I still think it's a fairly rich work of historical fiction, I now recognize that I don't have much reason to like the heroine. She can be pretty childish and melodramatic, with tears coming to her eyes so frequently that it becomes tiring.
While the story sometimes feels like a drawn-out walk to the inevitable, with characters repeating the same sentiments over again, the ironies make the read worth it. The pain comes across well, but the tough, complex ironies of it all are where the story still gets me.
And it ultimately gives me hope. Indeed, the ironic "wolf" situation seemed so impossible to people back then. But time has shown us we didn't need that unjust wolf after all.
Can't let today's wolves stop us from envisioning a better future and fighting for it in whatever ways we can.
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impending choice of whether or not to leave her home forever to live life as a free woman is breaking Harriet's heart in Wolf by the Ears by author Ann Rinaldi.I was thirteen or so the first time I read this YA novel. It was quite the experience for me, getting me to chew on layered concepts that were still new to me at the time, such as the practice of some light-skinned people of color passing for white.
I'll admit my youth and the newness of it all for me back then had me more entranced (so to speak) than I was this time. While I still think it's a fairly rich work of historical fiction, I now recognize that I don't have much reason to like the heroine. She can be pretty childish and melodramatic, with tears coming to her eyes so frequently that it becomes tiring.
While the story sometimes feels like a drawn-out walk to the inevitable, with characters repeating the same sentiments over again, the ironies make the read worth it. The pain comes across well, but the tough, complex ironies of it all are where the story still gets me.
And it ultimately gives me hope. Indeed, the ironic "wolf" situation seemed so impossible to people back then. But time has shown us we didn't need that unjust wolf after all.
Can't let today's wolves stop us from envisioning a better future and fighting for it in whatever ways we can.
Show Less
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Pages
272