Changes For Addy (American Girls Collection) - Softcover

Porter, Connie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156247085X ISBN 13: 9781562470852

Publisher: American Girl, 1994

Synopsis

Addy has begun to give up hope of ever having her family together. Then she gets word that baby Esther, Auntie Lula, and Uncle Solomon are on their way to Philadelphia. Addy searches the city for them, but the reunion she dreamed of is mixed with joy and deep sorrow. As Addy prepares for her reading at the Emancipation Celebration, she begins to doubt the words about freedom she is supposed to read. Momma reminds Addy that their family will always be together as long as their love and courage live in her heart.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-5-The story of Addy and her family, who have escaped from slavery, continues in these two stories set in Philadelphia just before and after the end of the Civil War. Happy Birthday, Addy opens with the protagonist leading a more stable life with her father now delivering ice and searching for a carpenter's position and her mother taking in laundry. Although both parents are being paid as free citizens, the realities of prejudice are clearly evident as Addy laments, "all the colored people got a strange kind of freedom here...There are jobs we can't get and shops we can't eat at just because of the color of our skin." Despite this, she learns the value of optimism from wise, old, blind M'Dear. Addy Saves the Day includes the excitement of a church fair sponsored for postwar family assistance and Abby helping to catch the thief who steals the raised monies. Both books have a good balance of emotion, historical facts, and suspense to keep readers interested; they are attractively illustrated with colorful vignettes and full-page paintings. An addendum, "A Peek Into the Past," provides a good explanation of the time period and its customs, conventions, and realities. Nicely done.
Rita Soltan, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: American Girl
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 156247085X
• ISBN 13: 9781562470852
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 72