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Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father’s Secret Children
This story of Thomas Jefferson's children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, tells a darker piece of America's history from an often unseen perspective-that of three of Jefferson's slaves-including two of his own children. As each child grows up and tells his story, the contradiction between slavery and freedom becomes starker, calliing into question the real meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This poignant story sheds light on what life was like as one of Jefferson's invisible offspring.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
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10341 people want to read
About the author
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
27 books2,855 followersKimberly Brubaker Bradley's next book, The Night War, will be published April 9, 2024. She is the author of nineteen previous books, including the Newbery Honor winners Fighting Words and The War that Saved My Life. The sequel to the latter, The War I Finally Won, appeared on many state-award and best-books lists and was described as “stunning” by The Washington Post and “honest” and “daring” by The New York Times. She is also the acclaimed author of She Persisted: Rosalind Franklin. Kimberly and her husband have two grown children and live with their dogs, two highly opinionated mares, and a surplus of cats on a fifty-two-acre farm in Bristol, Tennessee. Visit her at kimberlybrubakerbradley.com.
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August 28, 2011
When I was in high school I started reading Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved on my own. At the time, my mother said something about the book that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. She noted that the novel was remarkable because it showed that even the best possible slave situation was still an intolerable one. There is no “good” slaveholder, no matter how nice they might be, and no matter how well they treat their slaves. I understood a bit of this but I’ve never really encountered a book for kids that approaches this idea. I’d say that a good 95% of middle grade novels written for kids about slavery tend to show the same idea. The slaveholders are all evil except for one or two wives/daughters/granddaughters who teach our hero/heroine to read. Kids know that people who own slaves are bad so what’s the point in throwing in questionable morality? Yet Jefferson’s Sons couldn’t exist under those restrictions even if it wanted to. If a good chunk of the American population has a hard time wrapping its head around the idea that the Founding Fathers owned slaves then how much harder would it be for an author of children’s literature to bring the point up? Kimberly Brubaker Bradley doesn’t just tackle the issue of someone like Thomas Jefferson owning slaves, though. She tackles the notion that he owned his own children as well. To pull this storyline off and to make it child appropriate, Bradley has a couple tricks up her sleeve. And danged if it doesn’t pay off in the end. To her I doff my cap.
Three residents of Monticello. Three boys with a connection to its owner, Thomas Jefferson. The first boy, Beverly, is the eldest son of Sally Hemings. He is also, as it happens, a son of Jefferson himself. Born with light-colored skin, Beverly comes to learn from his mother that when he turns twenty-one he is expected to leave Monticello, never see his family again, and go into the world as a white man. On this point he is conflicted (to say the least). After him comes Madison, or Maddy for short. Born with darker skin, Maddy will never be able to live as a white person like his siblings, and he fights with his anger at his father and at the system of slavery itself. Finally there is Peter, a young slave boy, who ends up suffering the most at the hands of Jefferson’s negligence. Through it all, these three boys help one another and attempt to come to terms with how a man can be considered great and yet participate in an institution of evil.
Before we get any further I’m going to cut short an objection to this book that a segment of adult gatekeepers are going to lob straight off. The idea that Thomas Jefferson sired children with Sally Hemings is widely but not universally accepted. Some people believe that her kids were fathered by a cousin of Jefferson's. Bradley even incorporates this theory into her story, mentioning that Jefferson’s daughter Martha spread the rumor of the cousin to distract the curious from making connections she deemed inappropriate. Bradley also tackles the fact that the Hemings/Jefferson connection is something she and “almost everyone else who’s investigated the subject” believes. She offers up a plethora of research for this, including a “Report of the Monticello Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings” found on no less than the Monticello website itself. None of this will prevent die-hard critics of the Jefferson/Hemings connection from objecting to this book and I would not be surprised to see it challenged in libraries and schools where anything but a pristine 100% view of Thomas Jefferson is deemed unacceptable. Still, I hope that this book will find its way into the hands of kids interested in this period of history. The past is never as black and white (forgive the pun) as we’d like it to be, after all.
Folks might also try to object to this book using the excuse that it’s entirely about illegitimate children, and how on earth is it possible to make such subject matter appropriate for kid readers? I don’t know how to answer you that partly because I don’t know how Bradley did it. But did it she did and that’s the truth. Jefferson’s Sons walks a thin thin line between truth and child-friendly matter. She has the unenviable task of making slavery out to be just as bad as it can be without scarring readers for life. To do so she uses a secret weapon: child perspectives. Why is this book’s narrative split between three different boys? Because that way Ms. Bradley can keep child readers restrained to the limited worldview of her characters. It’s amazing how much you can still say this way, though. For example, allusions to the danger female slaves faced at the hands of their owners is mentioned with sentences like “Some slave owner – some white man – might want Mama to have babies she didn’t want to have.” It’s truthful without downplaying the danger. Right at the start of the book Sally Hemings forces Beverly to watch a whipping, saying that he needs to know the horrors of slavery in the midst of his privileged state. The child reader is in much a similar situation, and Ms. Bradley’s the one keeping them from hiding their faces from the truth.
Difficult subject matter isn’t limited to such explicit horrors, of course. There’s also the strange notion of “passing”. Passing in children’s literature is almost never seen as a good thing. Recently the fictionalized novel of Zora Neal Hurston’s youth Zora and Me contained a character whose passing causes the death of her own brother. But books like Zora take place in a post-slavery era. For people during the height of slavery, say the late 18th century, passing was a matter of survival. That said, Bradley doesn’t paint it as all happy-go-lucky flowers and tweeting birdies. While Harriet (Jefferson's daughter with Hemings) accepts that she will be white one day, Beverly is honestly torn. It’s not merely a question of what he is or is not, but also a question of never seeing his darker family members like his mother or brother Maddy. Bradley also throws in facts many readers might be unaware of, like that during this time a person with seven out of eight white great-grandparents was considered legally white. The very notion of race is turned on its head then. When kids today think of slaves they think of universally dark individuals. The idea that there was a wide range of skin tones might make them question assumptions they didn’t even know they had.
As for the characters, Ms. Bradley has done an excellent job of fleshing out folks who until now were just names on pages. Sally and Thomas are fascinating in and of themselves. In her case you’ve a character that willingly entered back into slavery of her own volition though she could have stayed in France after Jefferson's time there. The only explanation for her return given is that she’d miss her family in America, and while maybe that is true it feel weak. Then there’s the question of whether or not she actually cares for Thomas. Bradley plays it several ways. When Beverly asks her this at the start she laughs off his question with an easy “Of course”. It isn’t that simple, though. This is the answer of an adult reassuring her child. We do see her care for Thomas in small ways, like tending his grave later. At the same time, it’s pretty clear that her loyalty lies not with him but with her children. She would do anything to guarantee their freedom and time and time again she drills that point home. Right up to the moment when she mentions that though all her kids will someday be freed, she never will. He'll never let her go.
Which brings us to Thomas himself. The man who took to bed his dead wife’s half-sister (for so Sally was) he appears as a brilliant if absent man. At one point Sally tells a story about him that makes him more than just a two-dimensional historical figure. She says that growing up, Jefferson was friends with Sally’s brothers. When grown, he freed them, assuming they’d stay and things would stay the same. When, instead, they took off he grew bitter and never freed another slave during his lifetime. His sons wrestle with this duality and Bradley doesn’t make it easy on them either. Just when he seems like an amiable fellow he’ll turn around and sell Beverly’s best friend. Or he’ll spend so much money on guests and wine during his life that when he dies more than a hundred slaves will have to be sold. The book sort of sums all of this up best when General Lafayette comes to visit. Maddy explains to Peter about the Declaration of Independence and they examine the line “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Peter points out that in fact Lafayette and Jefferson then failed to free everyone. “I know,” says Maddy. “But they think they did.”
Late in the novel Maddy and Beverly discuss their father. Beverly mentions all the great things Jefferson did for the country. Then he asks, “does all that mean he’s a great person? White folks seem to think so. If you’re great enough in some areas, does it make up for the rest?” Maddy’s simple answer is “Would a great person sell someone else’s son?” Uncle John follows that up with the question of “Can a person be great and still participate in evil?” Big themes for a children’s book. No easy answers on hand either. Seems to me that adults have been struggling with these ideas for thousands of years. In terms of Jefferson, we’ve only recently let our kids debate that little issue. History is so much easier to deal with when you can pick and choose an individual’s actions. Jefferson’s actions will continue to be picked apart and debated for as long as we have a country. This book, I trust, will figure prominently in continuing to spark that debate. A great story. A killer ending. A must read.
For ages 9-12
Three residents of Monticello. Three boys with a connection to its owner, Thomas Jefferson. The first boy, Beverly, is the eldest son of Sally Hemings. He is also, as it happens, a son of Jefferson himself. Born with light-colored skin, Beverly comes to learn from his mother that when he turns twenty-one he is expected to leave Monticello, never see his family again, and go into the world as a white man. On this point he is conflicted (to say the least). After him comes Madison, or Maddy for short. Born with darker skin, Maddy will never be able to live as a white person like his siblings, and he fights with his anger at his father and at the system of slavery itself. Finally there is Peter, a young slave boy, who ends up suffering the most at the hands of Jefferson’s negligence. Through it all, these three boys help one another and attempt to come to terms with how a man can be considered great and yet participate in an institution of evil.
Before we get any further I’m going to cut short an objection to this book that a segment of adult gatekeepers are going to lob straight off. The idea that Thomas Jefferson sired children with Sally Hemings is widely but not universally accepted. Some people believe that her kids were fathered by a cousin of Jefferson's. Bradley even incorporates this theory into her story, mentioning that Jefferson’s daughter Martha spread the rumor of the cousin to distract the curious from making connections she deemed inappropriate. Bradley also tackles the fact that the Hemings/Jefferson connection is something she and “almost everyone else who’s investigated the subject” believes. She offers up a plethora of research for this, including a “Report of the Monticello Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings” found on no less than the Monticello website itself. None of this will prevent die-hard critics of the Jefferson/Hemings connection from objecting to this book and I would not be surprised to see it challenged in libraries and schools where anything but a pristine 100% view of Thomas Jefferson is deemed unacceptable. Still, I hope that this book will find its way into the hands of kids interested in this period of history. The past is never as black and white (forgive the pun) as we’d like it to be, after all.
Folks might also try to object to this book using the excuse that it’s entirely about illegitimate children, and how on earth is it possible to make such subject matter appropriate for kid readers? I don’t know how to answer you that partly because I don’t know how Bradley did it. But did it she did and that’s the truth. Jefferson’s Sons walks a thin thin line between truth and child-friendly matter. She has the unenviable task of making slavery out to be just as bad as it can be without scarring readers for life. To do so she uses a secret weapon: child perspectives. Why is this book’s narrative split between three different boys? Because that way Ms. Bradley can keep child readers restrained to the limited worldview of her characters. It’s amazing how much you can still say this way, though. For example, allusions to the danger female slaves faced at the hands of their owners is mentioned with sentences like “Some slave owner – some white man – might want Mama to have babies she didn’t want to have.” It’s truthful without downplaying the danger. Right at the start of the book Sally Hemings forces Beverly to watch a whipping, saying that he needs to know the horrors of slavery in the midst of his privileged state. The child reader is in much a similar situation, and Ms. Bradley’s the one keeping them from hiding their faces from the truth.
Difficult subject matter isn’t limited to such explicit horrors, of course. There’s also the strange notion of “passing”. Passing in children’s literature is almost never seen as a good thing. Recently the fictionalized novel of Zora Neal Hurston’s youth Zora and Me contained a character whose passing causes the death of her own brother. But books like Zora take place in a post-slavery era. For people during the height of slavery, say the late 18th century, passing was a matter of survival. That said, Bradley doesn’t paint it as all happy-go-lucky flowers and tweeting birdies. While Harriet (Jefferson's daughter with Hemings) accepts that she will be white one day, Beverly is honestly torn. It’s not merely a question of what he is or is not, but also a question of never seeing his darker family members like his mother or brother Maddy. Bradley also throws in facts many readers might be unaware of, like that during this time a person with seven out of eight white great-grandparents was considered legally white. The very notion of race is turned on its head then. When kids today think of slaves they think of universally dark individuals. The idea that there was a wide range of skin tones might make them question assumptions they didn’t even know they had.
As for the characters, Ms. Bradley has done an excellent job of fleshing out folks who until now were just names on pages. Sally and Thomas are fascinating in and of themselves. In her case you’ve a character that willingly entered back into slavery of her own volition though she could have stayed in France after Jefferson's time there. The only explanation for her return given is that she’d miss her family in America, and while maybe that is true it feel weak. Then there’s the question of whether or not she actually cares for Thomas. Bradley plays it several ways. When Beverly asks her this at the start she laughs off his question with an easy “Of course”. It isn’t that simple, though. This is the answer of an adult reassuring her child. We do see her care for Thomas in small ways, like tending his grave later. At the same time, it’s pretty clear that her loyalty lies not with him but with her children. She would do anything to guarantee their freedom and time and time again she drills that point home. Right up to the moment when she mentions that though all her kids will someday be freed, she never will. He'll never let her go.
Which brings us to Thomas himself. The man who took to bed his dead wife’s half-sister (for so Sally was) he appears as a brilliant if absent man. At one point Sally tells a story about him that makes him more than just a two-dimensional historical figure. She says that growing up, Jefferson was friends with Sally’s brothers. When grown, he freed them, assuming they’d stay and things would stay the same. When, instead, they took off he grew bitter and never freed another slave during his lifetime. His sons wrestle with this duality and Bradley doesn’t make it easy on them either. Just when he seems like an amiable fellow he’ll turn around and sell Beverly’s best friend. Or he’ll spend so much money on guests and wine during his life that when he dies more than a hundred slaves will have to be sold. The book sort of sums all of this up best when General Lafayette comes to visit. Maddy explains to Peter about the Declaration of Independence and they examine the line “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Peter points out that in fact Lafayette and Jefferson then failed to free everyone. “I know,” says Maddy. “But they think they did.”
Late in the novel Maddy and Beverly discuss their father. Beverly mentions all the great things Jefferson did for the country. Then he asks, “does all that mean he’s a great person? White folks seem to think so. If you’re great enough in some areas, does it make up for the rest?” Maddy’s simple answer is “Would a great person sell someone else’s son?” Uncle John follows that up with the question of “Can a person be great and still participate in evil?” Big themes for a children’s book. No easy answers on hand either. Seems to me that adults have been struggling with these ideas for thousands of years. In terms of Jefferson, we’ve only recently let our kids debate that little issue. History is so much easier to deal with when you can pick and choose an individual’s actions. Jefferson’s actions will continue to be picked apart and debated for as long as we have a country. This book, I trust, will figure prominently in continuing to spark that debate. A great story. A killer ending. A must read.
For ages 9-12
January 10, 2021
I’d read four other books by this author The War That Saved My Life, The War I Finally Won, Halfway to the Sky, and Fighting Words and had given them all 5 stars. Prior to reading I was not drawn to this one as I immediately was to the others and I ended up not enjoying it quite as much as the other four, but I enjoyed it more and more as I read on and I contemplated giving it 5 stars.
As in her other books the author creates incredibly believable characters, both children and adults.
It was brutal though. There was one scene that I thought would be the worst but then that happened twice more. Given the subject matter it was proper that this story should be tremendously upsetting. Disconcerting. Shocking. Distressing. Heartbreaking.
It was interesting to read this book right before a Presidential election and this election in particular. Oh the flaws we’ve always had!! I felt that what I was reading was so disturbing that I didn’t want to have to finish it after Election Day so I made sure to finish reading & reviewing prior to then.
The book got better & better & better as it went along. What keeps me from giving it 5 stars is it’s hard for me to read about that much conjecture about real people in history, even though the author did a superb job. I wasn’t sure though about the talking by Sally Hemings and some of the other slaves as it seems “too modern” for me. Did they really talk in these ways and with that perspective and did they really know what these characters seem to know? I’m doubtful. Too modern and psychologically sophisticated sensibilities??? Too modern ways of talking to and explaining things to children?? I could be the one who’s wrong though as the author definitely did her research.
I did get curious and I did do a bit of research as I read though I didn’t go to the back to read the author’s note/any extra material, though I was tempted. As usual, the author wrote an excellent note in the back and included research and other information.
There are many quotable quotes including: “…they couldn’t forget, but they could choose to move on. He said anger was like a heavy rock, hard to carry every day. It was easier to get through life if you could set your anger down.”
As I was reading I thought it would be a 4 star or 3 star book for me but it kept improving and it left me very emotional and I’m glad that it did. It also has me wanting to read and learn a lot more. I can’t give it less than 4 stars, 4-1/2 stars really.
4-1/2 stars
As in her other books the author creates incredibly believable characters, both children and adults.
It was brutal though. There was one scene that I thought would be the worst but then that happened twice more. Given the subject matter it was proper that this story should be tremendously upsetting. Disconcerting. Shocking. Distressing. Heartbreaking.
It was interesting to read this book right before a Presidential election and this election in particular. Oh the flaws we’ve always had!! I felt that what I was reading was so disturbing that I didn’t want to have to finish it after Election Day so I made sure to finish reading & reviewing prior to then.
The book got better & better & better as it went along. What keeps me from giving it 5 stars is it’s hard for me to read about that much conjecture about real people in history, even though the author did a superb job. I wasn’t sure though about the talking by Sally Hemings and some of the other slaves as it seems “too modern” for me. Did they really talk in these ways and with that perspective and did they really know what these characters seem to know? I’m doubtful. Too modern and psychologically sophisticated sensibilities??? Too modern ways of talking to and explaining things to children?? I could be the one who’s wrong though as the author definitely did her research.
I did get curious and I did do a bit of research as I read though I didn’t go to the back to read the author’s note/any extra material, though I was tempted. As usual, the author wrote an excellent note in the back and included research and other information.
There are many quotable quotes including: “…they couldn’t forget, but they could choose to move on. He said anger was like a heavy rock, hard to carry every day. It was easier to get through life if you could set your anger down.”
As I was reading I thought it would be a 4 star or 3 star book for me but it kept improving and it left me very emotional and I’m glad that it did. It also has me wanting to read and learn a lot more. I can’t give it less than 4 stars, 4-1/2 stars really.
4-1/2 stars
November 18, 2011
Can a person be great and still participate in evil?
This question lives at the heart of Jefferson's Sons, a fictionalized account of the lives of Thomas Jefferson's children by his slave, Sally Hemings. From the captivating cover art to the last devastating line, this book is engaging and thought-provoking.
Beverly, Harriet, Maddy, & Eston Hemings will be freed when they reach the age of 21. Master Jefferson has promised their mother this. For now, they are well taken care of; they do not work as hard as the other slaves as Monticello and they receive privileges, as well.
Beverly, the oldest son, wants so badly to have a relationship with the man he longs to call "Papa" but is forced to refer to as "Master Jefferson". The older he gets, the more Beverly knows that can never happen. Because he is light-skinned, when he is freed, he and his sister Harriet will leave Monticello to become a part of white society, and no one can ever know the truth of their paternity. Eston, the youngest, is the spitting image of Jefferson and poses the biggest threat of exposure when visitors come to Monticello. He, too, knows he will leave Monticello forever when he is freed.
Middle son James Madison (Maddy, for short) knows that when is freed, he will stay with his mother because, of all Sally's children, he alone is too dark-skinned to pass for white. It is his painful reality that once they leave Monticello, he will never see his siblings again.
Peter Fossett is a slave born at Monticello, son of the great-house cook and the blacksmith. Peter believes himself to be the luckiest boy in the world to live his happy life at Monticello. He is too young to work hard, but he is still helpful, and he gets to run and play on the mountaintop. From there, he can see the whole world, it seems.
For all the beauty in these children's lives (and there is beauty, be sure), they are still slaves. Their lives are not their own. Master Jefferson lives grandly. He is generous to the stream of guests that come to Monticello to see the president, and money is running out. They tell themselves that as long as Master Jefferson lives, they know they will be treated just fine. Yes, but what of when he dies? What then?
And what are we to think of Master Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, champion of freedom, slaveholder? Can a person be great and still participate in evil? In each boy's thoughts and actions we see both respect for the man and great disdain. How could he sell people? It is interesting to note that none of the boys seems to respect Jefferson because he is a "great man", for his role in government, for his writings, or his stand for freedom. They respect him because he is their Master and respect is their role. Can a person be great and still participate in evil? The answer is not an easy one.
I don't know many elementary students who would pick this book off the shelf and choose to check it out. It does not have that kind of appeal to our students. They barely know who Thomas Jefferson was, after all. But they need to read this. It is a powerful reminder of man's ability to think of ourselves as good people and yet be completely inhumane to others. This book belongs in upper elementary and middle school social studies classrooms. It needs to be read, to be studied, to be debated, to be a voice from the past that urges us to become catalysts for change, kindness, and compassion.
This question lives at the heart of Jefferson's Sons, a fictionalized account of the lives of Thomas Jefferson's children by his slave, Sally Hemings. From the captivating cover art to the last devastating line, this book is engaging and thought-provoking.
Beverly, Harriet, Maddy, & Eston Hemings will be freed when they reach the age of 21. Master Jefferson has promised their mother this. For now, they are well taken care of; they do not work as hard as the other slaves as Monticello and they receive privileges, as well.
Beverly, the oldest son, wants so badly to have a relationship with the man he longs to call "Papa" but is forced to refer to as "Master Jefferson". The older he gets, the more Beverly knows that can never happen. Because he is light-skinned, when he is freed, he and his sister Harriet will leave Monticello to become a part of white society, and no one can ever know the truth of their paternity. Eston, the youngest, is the spitting image of Jefferson and poses the biggest threat of exposure when visitors come to Monticello. He, too, knows he will leave Monticello forever when he is freed.
Middle son James Madison (Maddy, for short) knows that when is freed, he will stay with his mother because, of all Sally's children, he alone is too dark-skinned to pass for white. It is his painful reality that once they leave Monticello, he will never see his siblings again.
Peter Fossett is a slave born at Monticello, son of the great-house cook and the blacksmith. Peter believes himself to be the luckiest boy in the world to live his happy life at Monticello. He is too young to work hard, but he is still helpful, and he gets to run and play on the mountaintop. From there, he can see the whole world, it seems.
For all the beauty in these children's lives (and there is beauty, be sure), they are still slaves. Their lives are not their own. Master Jefferson lives grandly. He is generous to the stream of guests that come to Monticello to see the president, and money is running out. They tell themselves that as long as Master Jefferson lives, they know they will be treated just fine. Yes, but what of when he dies? What then?
And what are we to think of Master Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, champion of freedom, slaveholder? Can a person be great and still participate in evil? In each boy's thoughts and actions we see both respect for the man and great disdain. How could he sell people? It is interesting to note that none of the boys seems to respect Jefferson because he is a "great man", for his role in government, for his writings, or his stand for freedom. They respect him because he is their Master and respect is their role. Can a person be great and still participate in evil? The answer is not an easy one.
I don't know many elementary students who would pick this book off the shelf and choose to check it out. It does not have that kind of appeal to our students. They barely know who Thomas Jefferson was, after all. But they need to read this. It is a powerful reminder of man's ability to think of ourselves as good people and yet be completely inhumane to others. This book belongs in upper elementary and middle school social studies classrooms. It needs to be read, to be studied, to be debated, to be a voice from the past that urges us to become catalysts for change, kindness, and compassion.
February 20, 2022
I live in Northern Virginia. Have been to Monticello a number of times--it's only about 2 hours from here. Have read lots of books on Jefferson. Have known the Hemmings story for years and have read Wolf By the Ears, another version of the story as seen through Harriet Hemings' eyes.
Bradley is a fine writer of historical fiction. Both of my daughters and I loved her [b:The President's Daughter|247959| The President's Daughter about young Ethel Roosevelt.
So I was eager to read this, and yet I finished it disappointed and had no interest in handing it to either of my daughters.
Bradley has done her research but research and earnest good intentions don't always make for a good book even from a good writer. There's a self-consciousness here that is just too apparent.The switch from character to character was jarring, and none of the characters is terribly believable.
I would suggest that if you adored this you go out and get Rinaldi's
book and compare the two. Then perhaps you will see what I mean. Rinaldi gets (if I can put it that way) under the skin of Harriet Hemmings. Bradley doesn't do the same here for her brothers.
Bradley is a fine writer of historical fiction. Both of my daughters and I loved her [b:The President's Daughter|247959| The President's Daughter about young Ethel Roosevelt.
So I was eager to read this, and yet I finished it disappointed and had no interest in handing it to either of my daughters.
Bradley has done her research but research and earnest good intentions don't always make for a good book even from a good writer. There's a self-consciousness here that is just too apparent.The switch from character to character was jarring, and none of the characters is terribly believable.
I would suggest that if you adored this you go out and get Rinaldi's
book and compare the two. Then perhaps you will see what I mean. Rinaldi gets (if I can put it that way) under the skin of Harriet Hemmings. Bradley doesn't do the same here for her brothers.
May 19, 2022
This is such a powerful and important book. It is easy to put the Founding Fathers on a pedestal. But no person is perfect, and Thomas Jefferson, especially, was a walking contradiction. He wrote that all men are created equal - something our entire nation is founded upon - and yet he not only kept and sold slaves, but he kept his own children as slaves. I think this novel raises important questions that our children should think about as they study history - can someone be a hero while also participating in great evil? What does it mean to be free?
Heartbreaking, and difficult at times to read (due to the subject matter) but it is such a beautifully written and important book that I highly recommend making part of your child's history studies.
Heartbreaking, and difficult at times to read (due to the subject matter) but it is such a beautifully written and important book that I highly recommend making part of your child's history studies.
February 18, 2015
Excellent. Juvenile, historical fiction. This is a powerful story that touched me deeply. After you read this book you will never look at color, or race on the same way ever again. Thomas Jefferson's children by his slave, Sally Hemings, were legally white, but they were the children of a slave woman so they were slaves. This story cuts to the heart of the irony of the slave culture in America and poses the question, what does it mean to be "black," or to be "white?" Can the color of your skin define you? Or is it something deeper that makes you who you are?
The final chapter is very difficult to read. After Thomas Jefferson died, debt made it necessary to sell all of his property, including his slaves. Sally Hemings and his children by her had been set free upon his death, but there were other families that were ripped apart on the auction block. This book shines a spot light on the real tragedy of slavery, the destruction of the black family. Even though it could be argued that Jefferson was a "good" master, it made no difference in the end. Families were broken up and scattered because of debt, and this is something that could happen to any slave. A good place and a good master was never a guarantee of any security. Also, even Jefferson employed "over seers" to do the "dirty work" like whipping slaves for infractions.
I'm adding this book to my list of books I believe everyone should have to read. The issue of slavery has cast a long shadow over American history, and this book helps explain why it still has an impact on our society to this day. Thomas Jefferson truly believed that he had helped create a society where "all men were created equal" and were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even as he owned his fellow human beings and held them in servitude.
When reading this book, consider that it is written on a 3rd grade reading level. To be able to tell this story in such simple and clear language is indeed an astonishing accomplishment.
The final chapter is very difficult to read. After Thomas Jefferson died, debt made it necessary to sell all of his property, including his slaves. Sally Hemings and his children by her had been set free upon his death, but there were other families that were ripped apart on the auction block. This book shines a spot light on the real tragedy of slavery, the destruction of the black family. Even though it could be argued that Jefferson was a "good" master, it made no difference in the end. Families were broken up and scattered because of debt, and this is something that could happen to any slave. A good place and a good master was never a guarantee of any security. Also, even Jefferson employed "over seers" to do the "dirty work" like whipping slaves for infractions.
I'm adding this book to my list of books I believe everyone should have to read. The issue of slavery has cast a long shadow over American history, and this book helps explain why it still has an impact on our society to this day. Thomas Jefferson truly believed that he had helped create a society where "all men were created equal" and were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even as he owned his fellow human beings and held them in servitude.
When reading this book, consider that it is written on a 3rd grade reading level. To be able to tell this story in such simple and clear language is indeed an astonishing accomplishment.
September 1, 2017
Sally Hemings and her children (Beverly, Madison, Eston and Harriet) are slaves in Monticello, the estate owned by Thomas Jefferson. Unlike the rest of her contemporaries, Sally and her children enjoy some perks (better work, clothes and even violin lessons) because Master Jefferson is also the father to these children. While the adults understand the situation, the children can not begin to comprehend it. As they struggle to find their place, they must also establish their identity.
I read 'America's First Daughter' by Stephanie Dray some time back. It was with this work that I was introduced to Monticello, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Since the early 1800's, it has been alleged that Thomas Jefferson had a relationship with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves, and that he fathered six children with her. To make matters more complicated, Sally and Martha Wayles Skelter (Jefferson's wife) were half-sisters. When Jefferson went to Paris, he brought Sally along to look after his children (this is when the relationship is said to have started). The implications of this book are quite large. Could a former president, a founding father and a vital force behind the Declaration of Independence have owned his own children? If so, does that diminish his character?
This book is intended for a young audience. To have children (two from Jefferson and one close to them) narrate this story is powerful for they would be the most confused., affected and vulnerable. This is a fictionalized account of their lives in Monticello. It was certainly eye-opening and shocking. They could only approach their father in certain situations and had to refer to him as master. And even if they had a better situation than the other slaves, they were still slaves. The scope of this novel is broad. Dealing with slavery, race and responsability of paternity, this work makes the reader really think. These kids were in a unique situation. Their resemblance to Jefferson made them stand out when they were meant to blend in. Bradley writes with heart and provides a compelling story. Though intended for a younger aundience, everyone should read this. If you are interested in learning more about Jefferson, I would recommend Dray's 'America's First Daughter'. A powerful book overall.
I read 'America's First Daughter' by Stephanie Dray some time back. It was with this work that I was introduced to Monticello, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Since the early 1800's, it has been alleged that Thomas Jefferson had a relationship with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves, and that he fathered six children with her. To make matters more complicated, Sally and Martha Wayles Skelter (Jefferson's wife) were half-sisters. When Jefferson went to Paris, he brought Sally along to look after his children (this is when the relationship is said to have started). The implications of this book are quite large. Could a former president, a founding father and a vital force behind the Declaration of Independence have owned his own children? If so, does that diminish his character?
This book is intended for a young audience. To have children (two from Jefferson and one close to them) narrate this story is powerful for they would be the most confused., affected and vulnerable. This is a fictionalized account of their lives in Monticello. It was certainly eye-opening and shocking. They could only approach their father in certain situations and had to refer to him as master. And even if they had a better situation than the other slaves, they were still slaves. The scope of this novel is broad. Dealing with slavery, race and responsability of paternity, this work makes the reader really think. These kids were in a unique situation. Their resemblance to Jefferson made them stand out when they were meant to blend in. Bradley writes with heart and provides a compelling story. Though intended for a younger aundience, everyone should read this. If you are interested in learning more about Jefferson, I would recommend Dray's 'America's First Daughter'. A powerful book overall.
January 26, 2021
This is a book that I highly recommend to all middle school students and adults as well. It is all about Thomas Jefferson and his life at Monticello. He talks about his relationship with Sally Hemings and all of his children by her and also by his wife. It is an extremely sad book especially at the end. This book is an eye-opener into the lives that slaves led and how they were treated years ago. When Cove it is over I will definitely want to visit Monticello and see all of the places that were mentioned in this book.
August 29, 2024
It started a little slow, but once I got to know the different characters; Sally, Beverly, James, Maddy and Peter I enjoyed it. Starting with Beverly's story, then Maddy's and finally Peter's, Brubaker Bradley has written an account of what it might have been like to live with Thomas Jefferson during the last days of his presidency and the years following. Beverly and James are his secret sons and Peter is the son of one of his slaves .
Anyone who enjoys historical fiction, loves anything about presidents or who are interested in reading what Brubaker Bradley wrote before her highly successful The War That Saved My Life and Fighting Words will want to read this.
Anyone who enjoys historical fiction, loves anything about presidents or who are interested in reading what Brubaker Bradley wrote before her highly successful The War That Saved My Life and Fighting Words will want to read this.
October 24, 2024
Well done, but depressing.
November 18, 2011
Good grief, this was a hard read at times because of the subject matter, but overall it's an extremely thought-provoking book. It's mostly the story of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson's children, who were raised as slaves at Monticello, and party the story of another enslaved family who were their friends.
My only real complaint is that it's a little expository, a character will answer a conversational question with a comprehensive overview of some element of Jefferson family history, but I can't see how else you could get the information out there so it might have to happen that way.
The fact that these are real people (and at least two of the primary characters in the book are based on real people who also wrote their own memoirs, which I will be seeking out) adds an extra punch of horror. Awful things in particular:
- the children realizing that 1. Thomas Jefferson is their father and 2. they are his slaves
- one of kids realizing that his lighter-skinned brothers and sister will eventually be able to live as white people, while he will not
- the recently freed father of another enslaved family explaining to his young son the order in which he (the father) will need to attempt to purchase the mother and sisters in the family, and the reasons why.
It wasn't one terrible thing after another, it also presented a lot of information on daily life at Monticello (any port in a storm, really), the cultural climate of the time, and the very dynamic relationships between and among the Jefferson family and the enslaved people on their farm.
One aspect of the book that I kept turning over in my head is that it's challenging, I think, to write a book where so much hinges on paternity issues without having it imply a lot of bedroom issues, and that made me wonder how this would work with younger kids. I tried to imagine (and couldn't, really) using this in a classroom setting. By the end, though, I was thinking that if nine year old kids could be slaves, it's not so much of an problem to worry about nine year old kids reading about them.
Grade: A-
Recommended: to fans of children's historical fiction
My only real complaint is that it's a little expository, a character will answer a conversational question with a comprehensive overview of some element of Jefferson family history, but I can't see how else you could get the information out there so it might have to happen that way.
The fact that these are real people (and at least two of the primary characters in the book are based on real people who also wrote their own memoirs, which I will be seeking out) adds an extra punch of horror. Awful things in particular:
- the children realizing that 1. Thomas Jefferson is their father and 2. they are his slaves
- one of kids realizing that his lighter-skinned brothers and sister will eventually be able to live as white people, while he will not
- the recently freed father of another enslaved family explaining to his young son the order in which he (the father) will need to attempt to purchase the mother and sisters in the family, and the reasons why.
It wasn't one terrible thing after another, it also presented a lot of information on daily life at Monticello (any port in a storm, really), the cultural climate of the time, and the very dynamic relationships between and among the Jefferson family and the enslaved people on their farm.
One aspect of the book that I kept turning over in my head is that it's challenging, I think, to write a book where so much hinges on paternity issues without having it imply a lot of bedroom issues, and that made me wonder how this would work with younger kids. I tried to imagine (and couldn't, really) using this in a classroom setting. By the end, though, I was thinking that if nine year old kids could be slaves, it's not so much of an problem to worry about nine year old kids reading about them.
Grade: A-
Recommended: to fans of children's historical fiction
July 31, 2019
Almost a week after finishing this book, I had to come back and change my rating from 4 to 5 stars, because parts of this story are STILL popping into my head. That's got to be worthy of the extra star, right? Some things drag on and the long list of characters took me longer to straighten out than I would have liked, but those are small gripes compared to the poignancy of the book. And that ending is everything.
May 22, 2016
You are a slave in Virginia, not just a slave to anyone, but to the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. He isn’t just your master though, he is your father but you can’t tell anyone as it will ruin his reputation. You work for your father, the president, who gives his white children everything they want while you, unable to do anything, stays silent and watch his other children be happy. You can’t do anything about it, you have no say in anything. On the bright side, you get treated better than most of the 130 slaves that your father owns. You get violin lessons for free and get the option to be a free man when you reach the age of 21. Jefferson’s Sons is a book you should put on your Want-to-Read list because although the novel has many characters, it has a riveting point of view of three boys: Beverly, Madison, and Peter, as well as the development of characters.
People would not want to read this book because of the ceaseless introduction of new characters. Although this is true, the introduction of all these characters is indispensable. Without knowing who all these characters are, aspiring to apprehend the novel would be exasperating. Also, it wouldn’t be the same without all the characters. With all those characters, it is almost as if you are there. You see yourself going through what the characters are going through, feeling what they are feeling. By the end of the story, you can see how all the characters have changed from beginning to end. This makes all the characters a necessity and vital to the story.
The absorbing novel should be on your Want-to-Read list because of the different viewpoints of three boys: Beverly, Madison, and Peter. The whole story is told in third person omniscient and takes place in Charlottesville, Virginia, but is based around three boys, each at a different time in the novel. Beverly is the oldest boy of Miss Sally and Master Jefferson. The story is based around him in the beginning of the novel. He is around the age of seven and you see him grow and develop into a man who is competent in the profession of carpentry, loves to play the violin, adores his family, and is ready to become a free man. The next boy whose life is shown in the novel is a boy named James Madison, everyone calls him Maddy. He is the third child of Miss Sally and Master Jefferson. You see him as a little boy in the beginning of the novel. As the book progresses, you see him learn to read, write, and eventually become a teenager who learns a lot from everyone around him. Out of all the children that Miss Sally and Master Jefferson had, he was the one to question Master Jefferson and if he really was a good person. The last person that the author, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, based part of the novel on was a boy named Peter. He wasn’t a child of Master Jefferson and Miss Sally, but a child of two very close friends to Miss Sally, Miss Edith and Joe Fossett. Peter wasn’t really interested in learning how to read and write like Maddy was. Instead, Peter liked to question everything that happened around him. For example, when Beverly left, all the slaves pretended like Beverly was never there in the first place. When he asked someone where Beverly was, Peter got scolded. Maddy played a big role in Peter’s life. He gave Peter advice when no one else would, he would fill him in on what was happening, and he told him stories. Along with all of these, Maddy read Peter the Declaration of Independence and told him what it meant. Peter learned that in the Declaration of Independence, it states that “All men are created equal.” Because of Maddy, he realizes that Master Jefferson, who thought he freed everyone in America, was wrong as he owned slaves. The different viewpoints make the book even more enthralling.
Along with the dissimilar viewpoints, you should put the historical fiction book published in 2011, Jefferson’s Sons, on your Want-to-Read list because of it development of characters. The publication introduces many characters over a long period of time, most of them newborn babies. Due to this, the book shows a considerable amount of development for many of the characters. For example, Beverly is one of the many characters who develop. He learns so much about what society is and where he belongs in society. He went from a seven year old who was mediocre at playing the violin, to becoming a man with the freedom to do what he wants. Another character was Maddy. He developed the most throughout the book. It is extraordinary to see him grow from a little boy who was very ignorant, to a boy who learned to read and write, as well as learn to accept that he could never be a white person. Other characters such as James, Peter, Eston, Harriet, Master Jefferson, and Miss Martha all change, but not as much as Beverly and Maddy.
In conclusion, you should put Jefferson’s Sons on your Want-to-Read list because even though the novel has an excessive amount of characters, it has interesting viewpoints of three boys: Beverly, Maddy, and Peter, as well as the evolution of characters throughout the book. The novel will make you smile, laugh, and maybe even cry as it is about the lives of slaves who yearn to be free. To find out what happens to everyone at the end of the book, go read it!
People would not want to read this book because of the ceaseless introduction of new characters. Although this is true, the introduction of all these characters is indispensable. Without knowing who all these characters are, aspiring to apprehend the novel would be exasperating. Also, it wouldn’t be the same without all the characters. With all those characters, it is almost as if you are there. You see yourself going through what the characters are going through, feeling what they are feeling. By the end of the story, you can see how all the characters have changed from beginning to end. This makes all the characters a necessity and vital to the story.
The absorbing novel should be on your Want-to-Read list because of the different viewpoints of three boys: Beverly, Madison, and Peter. The whole story is told in third person omniscient and takes place in Charlottesville, Virginia, but is based around three boys, each at a different time in the novel. Beverly is the oldest boy of Miss Sally and Master Jefferson. The story is based around him in the beginning of the novel. He is around the age of seven and you see him grow and develop into a man who is competent in the profession of carpentry, loves to play the violin, adores his family, and is ready to become a free man. The next boy whose life is shown in the novel is a boy named James Madison, everyone calls him Maddy. He is the third child of Miss Sally and Master Jefferson. You see him as a little boy in the beginning of the novel. As the book progresses, you see him learn to read, write, and eventually become a teenager who learns a lot from everyone around him. Out of all the children that Miss Sally and Master Jefferson had, he was the one to question Master Jefferson and if he really was a good person. The last person that the author, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, based part of the novel on was a boy named Peter. He wasn’t a child of Master Jefferson and Miss Sally, but a child of two very close friends to Miss Sally, Miss Edith and Joe Fossett. Peter wasn’t really interested in learning how to read and write like Maddy was. Instead, Peter liked to question everything that happened around him. For example, when Beverly left, all the slaves pretended like Beverly was never there in the first place. When he asked someone where Beverly was, Peter got scolded. Maddy played a big role in Peter’s life. He gave Peter advice when no one else would, he would fill him in on what was happening, and he told him stories. Along with all of these, Maddy read Peter the Declaration of Independence and told him what it meant. Peter learned that in the Declaration of Independence, it states that “All men are created equal.” Because of Maddy, he realizes that Master Jefferson, who thought he freed everyone in America, was wrong as he owned slaves. The different viewpoints make the book even more enthralling.
Along with the dissimilar viewpoints, you should put the historical fiction book published in 2011, Jefferson’s Sons, on your Want-to-Read list because of it development of characters. The publication introduces many characters over a long period of time, most of them newborn babies. Due to this, the book shows a considerable amount of development for many of the characters. For example, Beverly is one of the many characters who develop. He learns so much about what society is and where he belongs in society. He went from a seven year old who was mediocre at playing the violin, to becoming a man with the freedom to do what he wants. Another character was Maddy. He developed the most throughout the book. It is extraordinary to see him grow from a little boy who was very ignorant, to a boy who learned to read and write, as well as learn to accept that he could never be a white person. Other characters such as James, Peter, Eston, Harriet, Master Jefferson, and Miss Martha all change, but not as much as Beverly and Maddy.
In conclusion, you should put Jefferson’s Sons on your Want-to-Read list because even though the novel has an excessive amount of characters, it has interesting viewpoints of three boys: Beverly, Maddy, and Peter, as well as the evolution of characters throughout the book. The novel will make you smile, laugh, and maybe even cry as it is about the lives of slaves who yearn to be free. To find out what happens to everyone at the end of the book, go read it!
July 8, 2020
Absolutely outstanding and unique perspective into slavery. One of the most common questions about the Founding of the Father is how Jefferson can be so hypocritical to say "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" while owning people!??! This book gives insight into what it was like to be owned by your father/the former president of the US as well as perhaps how Jefferson, a great but flawed human, came to terms with that notion. It would make an excellent novel study for US History I classrooms, as it would generate difficult, but very important conversations in a structured setting as I think MS students would have a hard time grasping and fully understanding the valuable themes/topics this book contains. That said the wording is child friendly, for example Sally "goes upstairs" each night to be with Jefferson. If schools can't/won't admit it into curriculum, I think it would also be a great book for parents and children to read together. In short, this is a very important book for everyone to not just read, but understand and discuss.
October 9, 2020
This book. You guys. The final page had me sobbing and ready to vomit all at the same time.
This is the story of Thomas Jefferson's children that he had with his slave Sally Hemmings. It is told from 3 different points of view starting with Hemmings's oldest son, then moving to one of her younger sons, then to another slave boy who lived with them at Monticello. Through this story we see the children's struggle with wanting to be loved by a father who "owns" them and their community. We also see the fear that arises in the slave community as Jefferson ages and they wonder what will happen to them upon his death. This book had so much good information in it for middle school readers and even adults. I personally learned so many new things I had no knowledge of before. I'm just so grateful for this book and the message it puts into the hands of each of its readers.
This is the story of Thomas Jefferson's children that he had with his slave Sally Hemmings. It is told from 3 different points of view starting with Hemmings's oldest son, then moving to one of her younger sons, then to another slave boy who lived with them at Monticello. Through this story we see the children's struggle with wanting to be loved by a father who "owns" them and their community. We also see the fear that arises in the slave community as Jefferson ages and they wonder what will happen to them upon his death. This book had so much good information in it for middle school readers and even adults. I personally learned so many new things I had no knowledge of before. I'm just so grateful for this book and the message it puts into the hands of each of its readers.
December 4, 2011
One definitely could not introduce this book to young readers without first giving them other lessons on the era of slavery. By this I mean, solidly grounded factually based information of the times. Although I enjoyed Bradley's story line, the voices and thought processes of the characters did not ring true for that era.
Many times throughout the book, I found myself thinking,"He would not have said this or she would not think along those lines during the 1800s. I needed to keep reminding myself that the book was historical "fiction" geared toward 3rd. -5th. graders. All in all not a bad read.
Many times throughout the book, I found myself thinking,"He would not have said this or she would not think along those lines during the 1800s. I needed to keep reminding myself that the book was historical "fiction" geared toward 3rd. -5th. graders. All in all not a bad read.
November 16, 2016
I picked this up at the Boulder Bookstore on their shelf for what kids are reading in school. So glad to know this is a part of school curriculum. I love how Bradley passes the narrative onto each 7 year-old boy once the older one has reached his teen years and it is through their perspective that the reader comes to understand the devastating consequences and injustices of slavery in America.
November 17, 2020
This book did not work for me. The parts that are fictionalized - the feelings and private conversations between enslaved people - seem unrealistic to me, and I can only guess that the difference between my educated guess and the author's boils down to our experiences of race in the US (me being black and the author being white).
March 3, 2020
What a book. It weaves mountais of historical data into a great story.
November 18, 2019
Let’s just say, I’ll never think of Thomas Jefferson the same way. I’m also glad I didn’t buy a statue bust of him in D.C. like I did some of the other presidents.
I’m torn between his brilliance and what he did to form this country, and the seemingly contradictory and hypocritical way he lived his life - accumulating such horrific debt that he sold 130 people to pay the debtors.
More than once, the author wrote dialogue explaining her belief that Thomas Jefferson thought he was being true to his beliefs that “all men are created equal.” I’d like to believe that’s true, but despite that theory, the truth is that he owned men, women, and children. I suppose it would have to take a magnificent mind such as his to convince one’s self that owning slaves wasn’t in direct opposition to his very own Declaration.
Author, attorney, and activist Bryan Stevenson has said that a person shouldn’t be defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done. Someone who has lied isn’t necessarily a liar, someone who has stolen is not always a thief, etc. Does the same apply to Thomas Jefferson? I’ll admit, I think I hold him to a higher standard than your average Joe, but the facts are pretty damning. Scholars and researchers believe TJ fathered all of Sally Hemings’ children. He was thirty years her senior. His oldest child was only one year older than Sally. What was he thinking? Each child he fathered with her lived as a slave. His own children. Sally gave birth to their first child when she was only 17. By today’s standards he’s a racist pedophile. Should he be defined that way? Or is he more than the worst things he’s done?
It’s complicated. My head hurts. I’m borderline angry at Kimberly Brubaker Bradley for creating such a vivid story and helping to bring to light these sobering facts. Mostly my heart hurts for those people at Monticello (and elsewhere) whose lives, futures, and families were at the mercy of another’s.
I’m torn between his brilliance and what he did to form this country, and the seemingly contradictory and hypocritical way he lived his life - accumulating such horrific debt that he sold 130 people to pay the debtors.
More than once, the author wrote dialogue explaining her belief that Thomas Jefferson thought he was being true to his beliefs that “all men are created equal.” I’d like to believe that’s true, but despite that theory, the truth is that he owned men, women, and children. I suppose it would have to take a magnificent mind such as his to convince one’s self that owning slaves wasn’t in direct opposition to his very own Declaration.
Author, attorney, and activist Bryan Stevenson has said that a person shouldn’t be defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done. Someone who has lied isn’t necessarily a liar, someone who has stolen is not always a thief, etc. Does the same apply to Thomas Jefferson? I’ll admit, I think I hold him to a higher standard than your average Joe, but the facts are pretty damning. Scholars and researchers believe TJ fathered all of Sally Hemings’ children. He was thirty years her senior. His oldest child was only one year older than Sally. What was he thinking? Each child he fathered with her lived as a slave. His own children. Sally gave birth to their first child when she was only 17. By today’s standards he’s a racist pedophile. Should he be defined that way? Or is he more than the worst things he’s done?
It’s complicated. My head hurts. I’m borderline angry at Kimberly Brubaker Bradley for creating such a vivid story and helping to bring to light these sobering facts. Mostly my heart hurts for those people at Monticello (and elsewhere) whose lives, futures, and families were at the mercy of another’s.
October 17, 2011
Really a compelling book. It made me want to cry and vomit by turns--sometimes even to laugh. I assumed I knew the gist of the Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings story, but I didn't. Bradley writes movingly and believably about what it might have been like to be the 1/8th-black slave of your president slash father. And how your existence might have affected your mother and your extended family and your white more-than-half-sister (maybe everyone knows this but me, but I was astonished to read that Hemings was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife) and her children and the other enslaved people where you lived/worked. Jefferson is complex, but ultimately, a villain. His relationship with Hemings is presented as a disquieting love story. I don't know whether that's the usual tack.
The book isn't one of the best-written of the year; it can be repetitive and didactic, and if the situations and characters feel realistic, the dialogue and their thoughts don't always. But I also don't think the book's compellingness rests solely on the compellingness of the Jefferson/Hemings story. Well worth looking at for the Newbery.
And not a bad author's note. It sketches some examples of ways in which the author did her research and elaborated facts to make fiction; you get the idea of what she did without having to read every single detail of "this is what's real and this is what's not".
The book isn't one of the best-written of the year; it can be repetitive and didactic, and if the situations and characters feel realistic, the dialogue and their thoughts don't always. But I also don't think the book's compellingness rests solely on the compellingness of the Jefferson/Hemings story. Well worth looking at for the Newbery.
And not a bad author's note. It sketches some examples of ways in which the author did her research and elaborated facts to make fiction; you get the idea of what she did without having to read every single detail of "this is what's real and this is what's not".
May 22, 2017
It's clear this author did a tremendous amount of research, but this novel lacks authenticity and heart. At no point did these characters seem true to their time period. Rather, the modern sensibilities of our society seem thrust onto them and continual philosophical questions regarding the morality of slavery and the quandary that is Thomas Jefferson took center stage. I had a difficult time suspending my credulity when one of Jefferson's sons asked questions like "Am I slave" or "How can Papa love you and own you?" of his mother (Sally). Though only seven or eight, it's clear these conversations are being had for the reader and not for the characters as slavery would be such a part of their life it's impossible to ignore. These types of discussions are also insulting to the people who actually lived these lives. Sally was Jefferson's property and the painstaking care this author took to show the "love" that existed between these two, which has never been documented, was troubling. Sally's continual defense of Jefferson as a good man and the repeated telling conversations that don't allow readers to draw their own conclusions about such a tumultuous time and man makes this a novel to avoid.
October 19, 2011
This book was excellent. Rarely does a book written for children directly confronts the hypocrisy of one of our founding fathers, the one who wrote the Declaration of Independence, owning slaves. Told from the point of view of the three oldest slave sons of Jefferson and from the point of view of a slave child who was friends to the Jefferson boys. The author does not presume to explain why this happened but gives hints as to her opinion. Jefferson liked the good life: French food and wines, being able to host anyone who wanted to see him with excellent meals, good education for his white children, and possibly music lessons for the slave boys. All this cost money. He also cosigned a loan for his son in law (who is presented very negatively) and ended up being obliged to pay that loan. There is a hint that perhaps Jefferson figured because of who he was, no one would pressure him to pay his debts. In any case, without the profit from what the slaves produced, he would have had no real income at all. It shows how each of the slave sons had to confront this hypocrisy and how they may have dealt with it.
September 18, 2017
Loved this book! It was a quick read and easily kept my interest throughout. I enjoyed the deeper insights and questions brought up regarding slavery - what defines one as a slave, how can one believe in freedom and equality (enough to author the Declaration of Independence) yet own slaves.
At times though, I questioned the believability of children pondering these questions. On the other hand, I appreciated the more innocent child-like perspective while tackling these complex issues. Intriguing, thought-provoking, definitely 5 stars.
At times though, I questioned the believability of children pondering these questions. On the other hand, I appreciated the more innocent child-like perspective while tackling these complex issues. Intriguing, thought-provoking, definitely 5 stars.
May 14, 2018
Teen or YA book
I love historical fiction but even if you don't I think many students would enjoy this book. The book requires a level of maturity to deal with issues such as slavery and mature adult relationships.
Your eyes will be opened to a part of history that many people are unaware of. The book invites the reader to look at a dark part of our American History and evaluate an American Hero through a new lens.
This book stimulates both your mind and heart.
I love historical fiction but even if you don't I think many students would enjoy this book. The book requires a level of maturity to deal with issues such as slavery and mature adult relationships.
Your eyes will be opened to a part of history that many people are unaware of. The book invites the reader to look at a dark part of our American History and evaluate an American Hero through a new lens.
This book stimulates both your mind and heart.
October 11, 2018
7/5 stars. This is so raw, heart-breaking, and IMPORTANT. READ THIS BOOK.
March 18, 2019
"Jefferson’s Sons" is the thought-provoking story about the children of slave Sally Hemings, sired by their master President Thomas Jefferson after his wife died. As a secret that everyone knows, the children grow up with special care, better clothing, and lighter skin than the other slaves of Monticello. But as they grow, again and again they are reminded of how, though children of the president, they are still slaves.
Beverly is waiting for his 21st birthday, the birthday when Master Jefferson-- the man Beverly calls 'Papa' only in his heart-- promised Beverly's mama he’d set all her children by him free. He’s waiting to pass for white, to seamlessly slide into white society using the gift of light skin. He waits, and he wonders why he has to leave. Why can’t he just stay with his mama and his friends in Monticello forever?
Maddy takes after his mother, a fact that he both loves and resents. He considers his mama the best person in the world and the most beautiful, and he is proud to be related to her. But looking more like his mother means that Maddy could never pass as white. Even when Master Jefferson sets him free on his 21st birthday, Maddy will never be looked upon the same as white people. He will still be just a little above trash. So why do Beverly; Harriet, his older sister; and Eston, his younger brother that is the spitting image of Master Jefferson; get to go and leave him and Mama behind? Whatever happened to sticking to family, and will Maddy ever be truly free?
Peter Fossett is a good friend of the Hemings family and knows about their father-- after all, almost everyone on Monticello does. He considers himself the happiest boy in the world as he watches his father in the blacksmith's shop, his mother in the kitchen, and his friends where they work. He gets bored when Maddy tries to teach him to read but he still tries to endure it, loving Maddy like a big brother. Peter never thinks of himself as a slave, instead running little errands, rubbing Master Jefferson's horse Eagle, and playing with whoever will. But with things getting tighter around Monticello, there is talk that could split his family apart. And what can he-- a little boy, and a slave at that-- possibly do about it?
Though it was slow at times, every other chapter had some enormous question on the part of the slaves. Each of these was so stark and deep that I have a few of them stuck in my head. Actually, my entire favorite part of this book was what happened on pages 327 - 330. "But they thought they did." will probably ring in my head every time I read about slavery or the Revolutionary War again.
This book really opened up the fact that Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, builder of a library and a university, writer of the Declaration of Independence-- he had slaves. He had slaves whipped. He had slaves sold from their families. Basically, he had slaves. But some of them were also his secret children.
That's a complicated relationship.
All in all, this book is four stars. Again, it was a little slow at times, but it also contained great truths inside of it. The ending, I think, left off at a strange place. A sad place, too. But still, it did feel... final.
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley has done it again with an amazing historical fiction of questions with answers no one would answer.
Tolle et lege.
Beverly is waiting for his 21st birthday, the birthday when Master Jefferson-- the man Beverly calls 'Papa' only in his heart-- promised Beverly's mama he’d set all her children by him free. He’s waiting to pass for white, to seamlessly slide into white society using the gift of light skin. He waits, and he wonders why he has to leave. Why can’t he just stay with his mama and his friends in Monticello forever?
Maddy takes after his mother, a fact that he both loves and resents. He considers his mama the best person in the world and the most beautiful, and he is proud to be related to her. But looking more like his mother means that Maddy could never pass as white. Even when Master Jefferson sets him free on his 21st birthday, Maddy will never be looked upon the same as white people. He will still be just a little above trash. So why do Beverly; Harriet, his older sister; and Eston, his younger brother that is the spitting image of Master Jefferson; get to go and leave him and Mama behind? Whatever happened to sticking to family, and will Maddy ever be truly free?
Peter Fossett is a good friend of the Hemings family and knows about their father-- after all, almost everyone on Monticello does. He considers himself the happiest boy in the world as he watches his father in the blacksmith's shop, his mother in the kitchen, and his friends where they work. He gets bored when Maddy tries to teach him to read but he still tries to endure it, loving Maddy like a big brother. Peter never thinks of himself as a slave, instead running little errands, rubbing Master Jefferson's horse Eagle, and playing with whoever will. But with things getting tighter around Monticello, there is talk that could split his family apart. And what can he-- a little boy, and a slave at that-- possibly do about it?
Though it was slow at times, every other chapter had some enormous question on the part of the slaves. Each of these was so stark and deep that I have a few of them stuck in my head. Actually, my entire favorite part of this book was what happened on pages 327 - 330. "But they thought they did." will probably ring in my head every time I read about slavery or the Revolutionary War again.
This book really opened up the fact that Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, builder of a library and a university, writer of the Declaration of Independence-- he had slaves. He had slaves whipped. He had slaves sold from their families. Basically, he had slaves. But some of them were also his secret children.
That's a complicated relationship.
All in all, this book is four stars. Again, it was a little slow at times, but it also contained great truths inside of it. The ending, I think, left off at a strange place. A sad place, too. But still, it did feel... final.
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley has done it again with an amazing historical fiction of questions with answers no one would answer.
Tolle et lege.
March 14, 2019
The novel “Jefferson’s Sons” was about the children that Thomas Jefferson conceived with his slave, Sally Hemings. It’s told from three people’s points of view — Beverly, the eldest child, Maddy, the third child, and Peter, a close friend of the Hemings family. It's a fictional novel, though the characters and events in this story were based on reality. I find it fascinating how this book focused on a part of Thomas Jefferson’s life that many people don’t like to mention. Although it’s public knowledge that Jefferson had an affair with Sally Hemings, it’s more of an ‘open secret’ than a commonly discussed dinner topic. The book “Jefferson’s Sons” did an excellent job of portraying the characters and the situations that the slaves were in, and it did a well in blending together Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, and Thomas Jefferson, the slave owner.
Thomas Jefferson if a figure that I’ve always respected; he wrote the Declaration of Independence, was elected president, founded the University of Virginia, and, with his friend James Madison, created one of America’s two political parties. What’s not to like? The fact that he owned slaves has never bothered me much. After all, most influential figures had slaves back then, and it wasn’t as if he could free all his slaves anyway, as in the 18th and 19th centuries, the attitude towards black people in general, not just enslaved ones, wasn’t exactly friendly. Even free negros needed passes that proved their freedom, and sometimes people would destroy those passes and sell them to slave owners in the Deep South.
I don't approve of slavery, quite the opposite, but I do think that the privileged white men might've turned a blind eye to the misfortune around them. There's one part from the book really sums up the situation in America at that time well. It takes place after the Marquis de Lafayette visits Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, and they embrace and cry over each other. Peter is pulled aside by Maddy, who shows him the Declaration of Independence tells him this: "[t]hey believed this a long time ago, when almost nobody else did, and Master Jefferson wrote it down, and they made a whole new country around it. And now they're so old they're almost dead, and they're crying for what they did a long time ago." Peter, who was confused over that statement since slavery existed, says that "they didn't really do it," to which Maddy responded with "I know... [b]ut they think they did." The Founding Fathers had created a new country without a monarchy, where everyone was free, or so said the Declaration of Independence, in the famous line "[w]e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In reality, only selected people had those "certain unalienable Rights," namely white people (, or more specifically white men, as women were pretty much considered their husbands' property anyway). It's a well-known fact, yet one that people seem to overlook when talking about America's Founding Fathers.
In all honesty, most people idolize the Founding Fathers, gaze in wonder at their portraits and shiny plaques commemorating their deeds, paint them as heroes, maybe even gods. (Either that or they just don't care about 'stodgy old men' that died two hundred years ago.) However, "Jefferson's Sons" reveals a different, less discussed side of the story that shows Thomas Jefferson as a human that made mistakes, while not making it seem as if they're trying to burn his reputation to the ground. I was surprised when I found out this book was in the closed stacks of the library — I thought that more people would've found the subject of Thomas Jefferson's bastard children interesting. I certainly do. That was why I first checked the book out. Yet the reason I stayed, and why I hope many others will stay, was because of the unique views and characterization that this book offered. "Jefferson's Sons" is a fantastic book for people who want to read about the unusual situation that Sally Hemings and her children were in, or for people who just want to see the other side of the story, the one told by the slaves.
(On a side note, Thomas Jefferson, it turns out, died in debt. So did many other Founding Fathers, which leads you to wonder if we should've trusted them with America's government when they couldn't even keep their own affairs in order.)
Thomas Jefferson if a figure that I’ve always respected; he wrote the Declaration of Independence, was elected president, founded the University of Virginia, and, with his friend James Madison, created one of America’s two political parties. What’s not to like? The fact that he owned slaves has never bothered me much. After all, most influential figures had slaves back then, and it wasn’t as if he could free all his slaves anyway, as in the 18th and 19th centuries, the attitude towards black people in general, not just enslaved ones, wasn’t exactly friendly. Even free negros needed passes that proved their freedom, and sometimes people would destroy those passes and sell them to slave owners in the Deep South.
I don't approve of slavery, quite the opposite, but I do think that the privileged white men might've turned a blind eye to the misfortune around them. There's one part from the book really sums up the situation in America at that time well. It takes place after the Marquis de Lafayette visits Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, and they embrace and cry over each other. Peter is pulled aside by Maddy, who shows him the Declaration of Independence tells him this: "[t]hey believed this a long time ago, when almost nobody else did, and Master Jefferson wrote it down, and they made a whole new country around it. And now they're so old they're almost dead, and they're crying for what they did a long time ago." Peter, who was confused over that statement since slavery existed, says that "they didn't really do it," to which Maddy responded with "I know... [b]ut they think they did." The Founding Fathers had created a new country without a monarchy, where everyone was free, or so said the Declaration of Independence, in the famous line "[w]e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In reality, only selected people had those "certain unalienable Rights," namely white people (, or more specifically white men, as women were pretty much considered their husbands' property anyway). It's a well-known fact, yet one that people seem to overlook when talking about America's Founding Fathers.
In all honesty, most people idolize the Founding Fathers, gaze in wonder at their portraits and shiny plaques commemorating their deeds, paint them as heroes, maybe even gods. (Either that or they just don't care about 'stodgy old men' that died two hundred years ago.) However, "Jefferson's Sons" reveals a different, less discussed side of the story that shows Thomas Jefferson as a human that made mistakes, while not making it seem as if they're trying to burn his reputation to the ground. I was surprised when I found out this book was in the closed stacks of the library — I thought that more people would've found the subject of Thomas Jefferson's bastard children interesting. I certainly do. That was why I first checked the book out. Yet the reason I stayed, and why I hope many others will stay, was because of the unique views and characterization that this book offered. "Jefferson's Sons" is a fantastic book for people who want to read about the unusual situation that Sally Hemings and her children were in, or for people who just want to see the other side of the story, the one told by the slaves.
(On a side note, Thomas Jefferson, it turns out, died in debt. So did many other Founding Fathers, which leads you to wonder if we should've trusted them with America's government when they couldn't even keep their own affairs in order.)
May 8, 2023
"Don't let little things bother you. If you do, you'll be nothing but bothered, all the days of your life." ~ Uncle John
Another fantastic book by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. It has some heavy topics, and yet, it's handled appropriately for the middle-grade/YA audience. I found myself thinking about things like slavery, what makes a great person, what I would have done in this situation, and where my own blindspots are in my ideal morals vs. how I'm actually acting.
After I finished listening to this, including the author's note about her own research, I found myself looking up a lot of information on Sally Hemings. I really didn't know much about Sally, let alone her relationship with Jefferson and their offspring. For me, this was a fantastic February read as it's Black History Month.
All in all, I'd recommend it.
Here are some quotes I want to remember.
"You remember, that, both of you. Nobody is a slave on their own. There is nothing inside either one of you, or anyone else--Joe Fossset or Uncle John or me or anyone--that makes you a slave, that says you have to be one, that says you're different from somebody who isn't a slave. The difference is other people--people who make laws and put other people into slavery and work to keep them there." ~Mama
"So," Beverly said, "does all that mean he's a great person? White folks seem to think so. If you're great enough in some areas, does it make up for the rest?"Maddy asked, "Would a great person sell someone else's son?"Uncle John had walked up behind Maddy. "What was that?" he asked. Maddy repeated the question. "You want to know if great people can own slaves?" Uncle John asked. "Can a person be great and still participate in evil?" He tapped Maddy's shoulder. "That's what you're asking?"Maddy nodded.Uncle John seemed to have already thought it out. "You can be great in the eyes of mankind," he said, "but not great in the eyes of God. God calls slavery a sin, an evil, corruptible sin. Do you know the Bible verse? 'And God brought them out of Egypt, that place of slavery.'"
"There isn't such a thing as a nice slave owner. Slavery is bad. It's evil. All slave owners are bad. If a person would own another person, you can't trust a word they'll say, so you be careful, you hear me?" ~Maddy
"Maddy turned back to his father's headstone. Author of Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom and Declaration of Independence, it read. Founder of the University of Virginia. That was what Master Jefferson--no, Thomas Jefferson [...]--had wanted written there. That was how he wanted people to remember him. The champion of freedom, Maddy though, who owned slaves. Who lived his life so that at his death one hundred thirty people must be sold."
Another fantastic book by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. It has some heavy topics, and yet, it's handled appropriately for the middle-grade/YA audience. I found myself thinking about things like slavery, what makes a great person, what I would have done in this situation, and where my own blindspots are in my ideal morals vs. how I'm actually acting.
After I finished listening to this, including the author's note about her own research, I found myself looking up a lot of information on Sally Hemings. I really didn't know much about Sally, let alone her relationship with Jefferson and their offspring. For me, this was a fantastic February read as it's Black History Month.
All in all, I'd recommend it.
Here are some quotes I want to remember.
"You remember, that, both of you. Nobody is a slave on their own. There is nothing inside either one of you, or anyone else--Joe Fossset or Uncle John or me or anyone--that makes you a slave, that says you have to be one, that says you're different from somebody who isn't a slave. The difference is other people--people who make laws and put other people into slavery and work to keep them there." ~Mama
"So," Beverly said, "does all that mean he's a great person? White folks seem to think so. If you're great enough in some areas, does it make up for the rest?"Maddy asked, "Would a great person sell someone else's son?"Uncle John had walked up behind Maddy. "What was that?" he asked. Maddy repeated the question. "You want to know if great people can own slaves?" Uncle John asked. "Can a person be great and still participate in evil?" He tapped Maddy's shoulder. "That's what you're asking?"Maddy nodded.Uncle John seemed to have already thought it out. "You can be great in the eyes of mankind," he said, "but not great in the eyes of God. God calls slavery a sin, an evil, corruptible sin. Do you know the Bible verse? 'And God brought them out of Egypt, that place of slavery.'"
"There isn't such a thing as a nice slave owner. Slavery is bad. It's evil. All slave owners are bad. If a person would own another person, you can't trust a word they'll say, so you be careful, you hear me?" ~Maddy
"Maddy turned back to his father's headstone. Author of Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom and Declaration of Independence, it read. Founder of the University of Virginia. That was what Master Jefferson--no, Thomas Jefferson [...]--had wanted written there. That was how he wanted people to remember him. The champion of freedom, Maddy though, who owned slaves. Who lived his life so that at his death one hundred thirty people must be sold."
October 26, 2017
When I first saw this book I was exited due to its way of history and topic ,the book was just referred to the history I just liked. I really did enjoy this book because of its characters determination and they gave it all, and this book taught me how to do that.
This book was a good book and I give it a 4 star. The character of Beverly was a young boy fighting and also striving for and never giving up boy. Beverly's actions were the once that really impacted this book along with his family , especially Mama. The author of this book was one author who really knows how to put in feelings to people and also its imagery. The author of this book really hit the point where the story was at high points and just making the reader literally anxious about what was about to go down. Even though one of the characters did not have their future planned out very well. This book was a great book with so much excitement to it and so many things to be thinking about as you get deeper into the book.
This book was a good book and I give it a 4 star. The character of Beverly was a young boy fighting and also striving for and never giving up boy. Beverly's actions were the once that really impacted this book along with his family , especially Mama. The author of this book was one author who really knows how to put in feelings to people and also its imagery. The author of this book really hit the point where the story was at high points and just making the reader literally anxious about what was about to go down. Even though one of the characters did not have their future planned out very well. This book was a great book with so much excitement to it and so many things to be thinking about as you get deeper into the book.
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