Meet Addy (American Girl Collection)

In 1864, after her father and brother are sold to another owner, nine-year-old Addy Walker and her mother escape from their cruel life as slaves in North Carolina to freedom in Philadelphia.

Grade 3-6-Addy is a nine-year-old slave when the first story opens in 1864. The likable young heroine wakes up to hear her parents discussing whether they should try to escape or wait until the end of the war. Readers follow the girl into the tobacco fields where she worms the plants, feel her heartbreak as she sees her beloved father sold, and steal through the night with her as she and her mother make a run for the North. Their hunger, the loss of her baby sister, insect bites, and the fear of Confederate soldiers all ring true. While most of their hardships are resolved a bit too quickly, youngsters will empathize with and relate to the strong characters. The book ends as mother and daughter make their way to Philadelphia, but there's no indication that the family is reunited. Addy Learns a Lesson is a more self-contained story. Now in Philadelphia, the girl goes to school for the first time and makes a friend. She learns that there are haves and have-nots, the effects of jealousy, and the double-edged sword of freedom. Attractive, subtly shaded, realistic full-color paintings bring characters and scenes to life, dramatically conveying feelings and action. A "Peek into the Past" section of photographs and facts is appended to each title. These series entries will be popular additions to historical fiction collections.
Susannah Price, Boise Public Library, ID
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An African-American, widely praised for her first adult novel (All-Bright Court, 1991), initiates a series about a girl born in slavery and growing up during Reconstruction. This first book is not so much plotted as planned to exemplify carefully researched experiences: after Addy's father and older brother are sold in 1864, she and Momma easily follow Poppa's plan to flee from North Carolina to Philadelphia, with just a couple of suspenseful episodes en route. A number of grim details are included (Addy knows hunger, an overseer once forces her to eat tobacco worms, and the whip is a constant threat), but the emphasis is on the courage, love, and solidarity of Addy's family (Momma's charitable words when half her family's just been sold stretch credulity). An authentic (if slightly bland), accessible story for those who aren't ready for the grim reality of books like Paulsen's Nightjohn (p. 67). Touching, well-crafted realistic paintings; historical note. (Fiction. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.