Sojourner Truth: Voice of Freedom

by Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Lenny Wooden (Illustrator)

What do you do when you don't have a home or a family to call your own anymore?

Eleven-year-old Abigail is not entirely sure how she'll find it, but after losing her mother to smallpox and her father to the sea, she knows that it is up to her to build a new life for herself and her little brother, Seth. But carving a future out of the harsh realities of life in Wiscasset, a nineteenth-century Maine seaport, proves difficult, and Abigail fears that there will always be more questions than answers. How long will they be able to stay and work for the young Widow Chase? Will Seth be able to let go of the past?

As the months roll by like waves on the sea, Abigail searches tirelessly for a solution and for an answer to the question she holds most dear: Will they ever find a place to call home again?

Genres: Biography, History, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Kathleen Kudlinski is the author of 40 children’s books. Her works range from picture books to the YA level and include natural history, biographies and historical novels.
When not writing, she is a popular speaker and writing instructor. Building on a BS in Biology and six years of classroom teaching experience, Kathleen later trained as a “Master Teaching Artist” with the Connecticut Commission on the Arts as well as presenting at regional and national conferences. Now she eagerly Skypes with classroom, book-, and home-school groups, world-wide.

In her spare time, she paints and leads several SCBWI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators) critique groups, and teaches writing for children.

She writes at home beside a deep, wild lake in Guilford CT or at her woodland cabin in Weathersfield, VT with a a rescue macaw clinging to her shoulder and a pitbull warming her feet.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a miserable book. This will be the sixth book in this series I've read and this one is by far my least liked. I can see why in some regards Sojourner was regarded highly, but really, overall, I'm not sure why she has been called a great American. Perhaps the author did a poor job of painting the true story, or maybe I just didn't get it, but either way, I wasn't taken by the life of Sojourner Truth.

And furthermore, I'm not sure that I would consider it a 'good' children's book. Some of the content was of a graphic nature.

If I had know, I would not have placed it on my list of required reading for my pre-scholar class.

[Erotic Horizon]

Sojourner Truth by Kathleen V. Kudlinski (2003)

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great American role model.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great story about a slave

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was OK. I definitely don't think parts of it were appropriate for young kids.