The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington’s Slave Finds Freedom - Hardcover

McCully, Emily Arnold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374322252 ISBN 13: 9780374322250

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2007

Synopsis

When General George Washington is elected the first President of the United States, his wife chooses young Oney Judge, a house slave who works as a seamstress at Mount Vernon, to travel with her to the nation's capital in New York City as her personal maid. When the capital is moved to Philadelphia, the Washingtons and Oney move, too, and there Oney meets free blacks for the first time. At first Oney can't imagine being free – she depends on the Washingtons for food, warmth, and clothing. But then Mrs. Washington tells Oney that after her death she will be sent to live with Mrs. Washington's granddaughter. Oney is horrified because she knows it is likely that she will then be sold to a stranger – the worst fate she can imagine. Oney realizes she must run. One day she sees an opportunity and takes it, ending up in New Hampshire, where she lives the rest of her life, poor but free.

Pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations bring to life this picture book biography of Oney Judge, a young woman who, in the end, has no mistress but herself.

The Escape of Oney Judge is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

About this title

About the Author

EMILY ARNOLD MCCULLY has written and illustrated many children's books, including Mirette on the High Wire, a Caldecott Medal Book, Marvelous Mattie, and Squirrel and John Muir, an NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. She divides her time between New York City and upstate New York.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Children familiar with the sterling qualities of George Washington, and to a lesser degree, Martha, may be startled to learn that both were slaveholders--Martha's inherited from her first husband. Martha takes an interest in one of her slaves, 10-year-old Oney, allowing her to become one of Mount Vernon's seamstresses. When Washington becomes president, Oney moves with the family to Philadelphia and, for the first time, meets free blacks and Quakers who are agitating for emancipation. As a young woman, Oney learns she will be given to one of her mistress's relatives after Martha's death, so Oney decides to run away. She makes her way to New Hampshire, where she eventually marries. At the top of her game, McCully takes a rather sophisticated piece of history and writes it in a way that will draw in children. They'll understand that although Oney's existence as a slave is better than most, it's punctuated by incidents that show that her life isn't her own: Martha turns down Oney's request to earn extra money as a seamstress and laughs merrily at Oney's desire to read. Even after Oney is free, she fears being tricked or taken back by the Washingtons, who never quite forget about her. The bright, eye-catching watercolor-and-ink artwork makes the story even more accessible, and an informative note adds to the text. Fascinating history. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0374322252
• ISBN 13: 9780374322250
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: McCully Emily Arnold