Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass

by Suzanne Slade

No one thought Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass would ever become friends. The former slave and the outspoken woman came from two different worlds. But they shared deep-seated beliefs in equality and the need to fight for it. Despite naysayers, hecklers, and even arsonists, Susan and Frederick became fast friends and worked together to change America.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Friendship, African American

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Sibert honoree author of more than 150 books for chlldren.

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony were BFFs. I mean, I knew they were working toward similar goals at the same time but I didn't realize they were actually working together.
That's pretty cool.

This would be a wonderful story to read aloud. It's factual and biographical but it's put together in a story-like fashion. There's a rhythm to the writing and it's probably quite mesmerizing with the right cadence. It's got good, strong messages but isn't preachy. There's some action (people throwing rotten eggs and houses burning down!) and the information is parsed in bite-sized bits so that it doesn't become overwhelming.

I was heartened to read about these two important historical figures who fought for civil rights. At the same time, I was disheartened when the book ended and I had to acknowledge that we're still fighting these fights, that the rotten egg-throwers are still out there, and that we don't currently have a strong team like these two to help us out.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great children's book on the friendship between two remarkable Americans who fought for equal rights for women and African-Americans!

[Jason Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the unlikely friendship between Frederick Douglass and Susan B Anthony. This book tells their story about working with each other and fighting for their different causes and even when they disagree still being able to work together and listen to each other. The book features a common theme of one page having a illustration on the edge while white space at the top of the page contains text and then after the page break we get a single page full bleed illustration. This continues for most of the book with double page full bleeds thrown in for big moments. The illustrations themselves are very bright in color with some pages featuring a montage of different drawings. Each page has a hand colored feel and the medium looks like colored pencil. I liked this book because I didn’t know much about the story of Susan b Anthony and this helped me learn a little bit. This would be a good book for use in a history setting and for reports on the two main character. You could also use this during a civics discussion about the civil rights movement and women’s suffrage.

[Charlotte S · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Their friendship lasted when others laughed. Their friendship lasted when rotten eggs flew. Their friendship lasted when danger drew near. Their friendship lasted when tempers flared." Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, are unlikely friends, but very good ones. They helped our country achieve so many great things. Even when they didn't agree on certain things, they knew that they could still work together to make the country better. The illustrations in this book are amazing! I know that you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I may have done that with this book... It's a great book and one that you could even use for a homeschool lesson! Thank you for reading! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for more fun book recommendations!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A higher reading level than Two Friends, which allows this author to delve more deeply into the complexity of the friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. It's useful for children to understand that people can disagree and still be friends.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one thought Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass would ever become friends. The former slave and the outspoken woman came from two different worlds. But they shared deep-seated beliefs in equality and the need to fight for it. Despite naysayers, hecklers, and even arsonists, Susan and Frederick became fast friends and worked together to change America.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

About Susan's and Frederick's society-defying friendship and how they worked together over a long period of time for rights for Blacks and rights for women.

I especially liked the inclusion of a disagreement and how they got past that.

[Rebecca Plaza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teachable approach to important 19th century, turn of century Americans who found great benefit from friendship. Fredrick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony.

[Lauren DeVore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 2014, biography. This biography tells of the friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas, who fought for the rights of women and African Americans together. I think this is a great story to read to students to share some influential people from history.

[wildct2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good story

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to read more about the complicated friendship of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Look forward to tracking down some of the correspondence over their 45-year relationship.

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Birthday to my sercret crush :) Happy Birthday to my Sercert crush 😻 https://usapp.fieldagent.net/applinks...

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting bit of history.

[Ink Drinker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kids: it was boring and repetitive

[Amitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review on my blog.

Friends for Freedom is non-fiction picture book about the little known friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. The text is simple and clear, with issues like human rights and slavery explained in accessible, but still engaging language. Soft, inviting watercolor illustrations elegantly capture fiery expressions as these two civil rights leaders passionately discuss their respective causes. (And side note--I just really love Tadgell's illustrations of Douglass's kids. They are so sweet and exude innocence and personality.)

The recommended age group for this book is 6-9 according to the publisher’s website, and that feels about right. As a grown up reader (and writer), I especially appreciated the author and illustrator notes at the back explaining the research that went into this, and some may find the bibliography useful as well.

Disclaimer: This review is based on a free copy I received from the illustrator. For those budding artists out there: the illustrator shared some of her early sketches for this book on my blog so be sure to check out that post.

[Alyssa Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. This story highlights the unique and unexpected friendship between two of America's greatest pioneers for equality, Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Though life circumstances should have kept them from even knowing one another, one a male black slave and the other and educated white woman, they met and grew a deep and lasting friendship on the common ground of their belief in equality for all. Their friendship was able to survive much heartache and turmoil and together they helped America grow up.
2. I think this story is a great read for young children because it teaches them about two historical figures that are rarely taught or talked about in the classroom due to the controversial topics it brings up-slavery, equal rights, and the suffrage movement in America. I found the book to be historically accurate and it is easy to see the wealth of research the author completed prior to producing this book. I also enjoyed the attention to detail within the writing and the illustrations.
3. I would pair this with books of life stories of other people in the same movement such as "Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote".
4. There are two social justice topics discussed in this book: the first is women's equality and the second is slavery in America.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This informational picture book details the deep friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Even though their friendship was taboo for their time, they were able to withstand prejudice and even violence, including the brawls and fights that broke out when the two spoke against slavery together, and being pelted with rotten eggs. Although Anthony and Douglas were each well known for their political and social views, this book’s focus is on the friendship the two shared for over 45 years!

The simple and realistic watercolor illustrations pair beautifully with the minimal but eloquent text. Extensive author and illustrator notes provide more information on research and on the bronze sculpture of Anthony and Douglass in Rochester, New York and show that this book has been thoroughly researched.

This book gives the reader a little known but important history lesson told in a clear, sensitive, age-appropriate way. I had no clue that Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglas were so connected. Books like this make history come alive. I enjoyed reading their story, and want to learn more about their lives and their friendship.

[Orlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides and interesting view about Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas both who were civil rights activist but had a relationship that wasn't supposed to exist in the time frame that they were in. The direct contrast in the first couple of pages shows their differences in the way they were raised Fredrick was born in a clay house while Susan was born into privilege and was white. Despite these differences this book illustrates how two people born on opposite ends of the spectrum came together to fight the racial stereotypes and injustices that were imposed on them in their lifetime. This book illustrates an amazing way that two people were able to communicate and talk about the issues society was having and build a friendship on it. The illustrations are done in water color and provide more visual images for the reader to think about. Often times there are portrayals of mobs and them(Susan and Fredrick) overcoming adversity like Fredrick's house being burned down or Susan being upset over the fact that women were not allowed to vote.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back when men and women weren’t suppose to be friends, Susan, a white girl who was born in a two-story house, and Fredrick, a African American who was born in a one-room cabin with floors made of clay, wanted to give speeches about equality, saving slaves, and standing up for women. But every time they went out in public they would get weird stares because white and blacks weren’t supposed to be friends, so they started to give speeches and through out rotten eggs and boos 4 years later the thirteenth amendment finally ended slavery. Then through out many more speeches more dreams came true. The first theme is hope/perseverance because they didn’t stop trying and they always stuck together although sometimes they would fight they would always make up in the end. Another theme is courage because you have to have a lot of courage to stand on a stage with people throwing rotten eggs and having fistfights.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used as a readaloud for my 5th graders this year. Found it worked best for me to lay some groundwork--,where they knew Douglass's name from (they had already covered Civil War and Reconstruction at the end of 4th grade) and where they knew Anthony's name from (having studied women's suffrage earlier in the 5th grade year). This book lent itself nicely to discussing use of our online encyclopedias to answer questions they had (such as what was Douglass's cause of death) and primary and secondary sources. There were some amazed expressions at the resource notes, including author's citation of a newspaper obit and it was helpful to give them another opportunity to describe primary/secondary as well as reasons for learning toncite sources--all in context of an amazing story of friendship and the struggle for civil rights.

[Holly Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students just finished reading a play adapted from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, so I think they'll enjoy reading this biography about the friendship of he and Susan B. Anthony. I thought it was interesting that the two also battled with each other at times. Their friendship of 45 years lasted until Douglass's death in 1895. Douglass lived long enough to see both the 13th and 15th Amendments pass, but unfortunately, Anthony died 14 years before the 19th Amendment. Both endured hardships trying to fight for the equal rights of African Americans and women - we owe a lot to them.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how this book was non-fiction, but written as an engaging narrative of the friendship between these two civil rights activists. At first, I was skeptical, because I didn't think that Douglass was all that sympathetic to the women's movement. In fact, I thought I had read that he didn't really take the Seneca Falls Convention that seriously. This is somewhat addressed in this book when the author mentions "a disagreement," and the author does have an extensive amount of research notes and sources listed.

3/3

[Heather Gettys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slade, S. (2014). Susan & Frederick: Friends & Freedom Fighters. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Susan and Frederick defy all odds during the civil rights movement and become friends. They maintain the friendship for many years. This friendship helped America to grow up and accept multiracial friendships.

This is a good book and the central theme is on friendship. The media within provides a subtle experience for the reader and it displays the text visually.

I can use this book in my class when teaching a history lesson on the civil rights movement.

[Pam Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass in this book. The back matter at the end of the book has even more information that's very interesting as well as all of the sources that were used for research. The illustrations are not my favorite style and I feel that that the cover illustration may turn students off from reading the book. But teachers can certainly sell this book by sharing some of the information!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nice look at the friendship that Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony forged in their work for equal rights. While I knew they were contemporaries, I never realized what a close friendship they had. Very interesting.

[Stacey Mulholland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm impressed at how much research was done and cited in this book for middle readers. It's a great example for kids to see how author's research what they write about.

Story has a great message about two very important people of the 19th century.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It highlights an important friendship between two people who were passionate about equality. Good illustrations. Solid back matter. Read aloud to 5th grade and they really liked it.

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging picture book biography of the "ahead of their time" friendship between two freedom fighters.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about little known history fact. Loved learning more about these two civil rights activists.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discusses how a former slave and an outspoken woman, who came from two different worlds, shared deep-seated beliefs in equality and the need to fight for it.