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Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself
Millions of Africans were enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, but few recorded their personal experiences. Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is perhaps the most well known of the autobiographies that exist. Using this narrative as a primary source text, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge share Equiano's life story in "found verse," supplemented with annotations to give readers historical context. This poetic approach provides interesting analysis and synthesis, helping readers to better understand the original text. Follow Equiano from his life in Africa as a child to his enslavement at a young age, his travels across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, his liberation, and his life as a free man.
216 pages, Paperback
Published March 7, 2023
21 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Monica Edinger
6 books354 followersA familiar presence in the world of children's literature and the author of several books for educators, Monica contributes to a variety of publications including the New York Times Book Review and the Horn Book Magazine in addition to blogging at educating alice . She has helped select the winners of several awards including the Newbery and originated and co-ran School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books. A committed educator, Monica began her teaching career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone and currently teaches fourth grade at the Dalton School in New York City. Africa is My Home: A Child on the Amistad is her first book for children.
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February 18, 2023
Remember a couple years ago when the words “primary sources” were uttered with a near reverence in classrooms across the country? This occurred during the initial rise of the CORE Curriculum, and all of a sudden teachers everywhere were mesmerized by the prospect of “first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it” (or so says the Healey Library of UMass). Of course, for some kids there’s an inherent problem with primary sources: They can be darned difficult to read. Old-timey language may be authentic, and a kid can be taught to read it, but don’t go to it if you’re hoping to be enthralled by narrative or entranced by the material. These days primary sources are often just a requirement in a homework assignment. It takes ingenuity and creativity and just a little bit of knowledge to figure out how to turn, say, an 18th century memoir into a gripping epic for teens. It takes, in short, Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge. The idea of taking an autobiography and turning it into a series of found-verse poems not only breaks with convention, it opens up an entire world of possibility when dealing with firsthand accounts from history. A triumphant tale of enslavement, education, and ultimate freedom, all true, all as you’ve never seen it before.
“I was born / in that part of Guinea, Africa, / that extends along the coast / from Senegal to Angola, / where the trade for slaves is carried on.” So begins the life of Olaudah Equiano . . . sort of. The man who would go on to write the autobiographical memoir, The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano most certainly wrote those words, but he wrote a lot more along the way as well. How are we to account for only some appearing in this work? Well, authors and educators Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge have found an eclectic way to bring old texts to life for young readers. The two took the man’s adventures, including everything from kidnapping to sailing to his multiple death-defying escapes, and turned his book into a found poem. Put another way, they’ve excised the portions that bog down the narrative, rendering the book into a sleek, smart title that any young adult could enjoy. Filled as well with additional explanatory passages that give weight and context to Olaudah’s world, the end result is a whole new way of looking at historical passages, and connecting them to the children of the 21st century.
By complete coincidence a week after I’d started reading this book, someone happened to donate to my library a pristine copy of The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano to my library. Not having a copy on hand, I was delighted to see it, and amazed by how thick the original source material was. I cannot even begin to fathom the amount of work it would take to look at a book that size and think to myself, “Okay. There’s a story in here, we just gotta pluck it out, sometimes piece by piece.” Happily, at the back of “Nearer My Freedom”, the authors reveal their methods in a section called, “Creating a Verse Version.” Here, the reader can see firsthand an original page from Olaudah's book, and then which portions were taken for this adaptation. The authors write, "We crafted the poems solely from hsi words, molding them around poetic devices and forms." Verse poetry in the form of novels isn’t new, of course. And found poems have been around for a long time to. Of course, normally when I think of “found poems” I think of newspaper blackout poetry and stuff like that. The notion of taking a book, a memoir even, from long ago and then systematically removing the outdated elements so that the book is boiled down to its most essential parts… I friggin’ love that idea. Full disclosure, I interviewed Lesley Younge, one of the authors of this book, back in September of 2022, to ask her where the idea behind this book had originated. She wrote me the following:
“Monica [Edinger] and the fourth grade team at The Dalton School introduced me to the story of Olaudah Equiano when I began working there as a new teacher. I had never heard of him before. At the time, they taught the Atlantic Slave Trade as part of a year long study on Immigration and Migration to America. They were using a book by Ann Cameron called The Kidnapped Prince, which is an elementary school level book about Equiano’s life from his kidnapping until he purchased his freedom. One of the projects in our classes was to take pages of that book and create found poems. The verses the students developed were extremely powerful and allowed us to have pretty in depth conversations about the experience of being enslaved and the role the slave trade played in shaping many parts of the world. Monica was working on her own book about a child on the Amistad, which was eventually published as Africa is My Home in 2013. After the success of that book, she came to me with the idea for a book about Olaudah Equiano, based on the found verse project we were doing at Dalton. I thought it was brilliant. We decided to write it for older children – young teens really – since there wasn’t yet an age appropriate version for them.”
That this book originated out of a school project makes it all the more interesting in my eyes. Of course, I can’t help but consider other ramifications of this for other students. What if schools regularly had students create found poems out of the primary sources they hand out? One kid gets the Gettysburg Address. Another the Bill of Rights. Another the “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. And now they must read these intensely, find the parts that stand out, highlight what’s important. By doing this, you make the student do an intensive read they wouldn’t have been inclined to do otherwise. But to then turn around and perform such surgery on a book for an age group lacking in information on a specific person from a specific time? Makes a lot of sense to me anyway. And the fact that it’s a verse memoir will probably make it feel a lot more accessible to readers. When I encounter a verse novel for kids or teens, my first thought is always this: Does it justify the verse? Or are you simply trying to use less words to tell a story? To my mind, verse makes sense when it has a purpose. And writing a book that’s a poem based on an entire memoir? Yeah, I’d say that verse is justified and triply so.
Getting into the nitty gritty of Olaudah’s life itself, Younge and Edinger establish right from the start why this particular man carries with him such outsized importance. Put plainly, he changed hearts and minds. This was the guy who laid the groundwork for the anti-slavery movements that would follow. A predecessor to people like Frederick Douglass, he was one of the few to first put forth the idea that slavery was immoral at a time when this wasn’t a widely considered idea in America or Europe. Then the authors let him tell his own story, and I couldn’t help but notice that Olaudah Equiano does something with his own book that a LOT of children’s books are doing today. Go out and grab a picture book like Born on the Water or An American Story and what is the first thing that they do? While the book is about enslavement, it always starts off by showing what everyday life was in these African nations and tribes. Olaudah too establishes his life and culture prior to enslavement. So he pretty much invented that form of storytelling all the way back in the 1700s, giving his book, even without the found poem aspects, a particularly modern feel.
Of course, what doesn’t slot neatly into today’s books is the simple fact that Olaudah is a product of his times. Sometimes he’ll say something or justify something that doesn’t jive with our current views on his time period. That’s something the authors had to consider early on, and they came up with a pretty neat fix. After all, none of this exists without context. The authors are constantly filling the book with additional information that places everything within a distinct framework. For example, early on they bring up the fact that nations of the world that are rich today often are so because they built their economies on the slave trade. But in terms of Olaudah’s views, they’ll sometimes have to provide some explanation. For example, quite casually he’ll mention his own village’s “slaves” and the fact that they were a part of everyday life. Later, when he’s a free man, Olaudah will talk about transporting the enslaved himself, and even helping to set up plantations. Since the authors are able to pick and choose what they include in this book, why didn’t they cut those complicated portions out? They left them in because history, as much as we might prefer it to be otherwise, is a mess. It’s complicated and strange and rarely straightforward.
The solution that Edinger and Younge came up with to handle such sections is notable. First, they include interstitial sections that give context to what’s already been discussed by our narrator. Then, they’re able to inform readers about topics they might never have considered before. For example, where did the enslaved come from? Our books for kids always show a bunch of white enslavers sneaking into a village to grab people. The fact is, enslavement was a business and businesses, if they work, are run with efficiency. They note that while slavery was an ancient practice that had existed for a long time in different African nations, and that European traders usually waited “in coastal towns, on boats, and in slavery fortresses for captives to be brought to them from the interior lands,” the translatlantic slave trade changed everything. It changed the culture and the political landscapes of Africa as a whole. That’s a more complicated story than you’ll find in a children’s book. For a YA title, however, it’s something that needed to be mentioned.
Near the beginning of the book, Olaudah is recounting his early years and then he says, “Such is the imperfect memory sketch of the manners and customs of a people among whom I first drew breath.” I love that phrase “imperfect memory sketch”. The man lived a rich, full life, packed with near death experiences, and narrow escapes. The whole thing has so many adventures, in fact, that you could never make a full movie out of his life. I envision his story more as a full series on television, with many episodes along the way. Of course, before that happens it needs to be better known to the public, and books like Nearer My Freedom will definitely help to do just that. It’s a more sophisticated and complicated look at the history of slavery then I think a lot of young adults will have encountered before. Its applications in the classroom? Endless. Its importance? Impossible to summarize. A rich, inventive take on how to tell history, sincerely, honestly, and interestingly.
“I was born / in that part of Guinea, Africa, / that extends along the coast / from Senegal to Angola, / where the trade for slaves is carried on.” So begins the life of Olaudah Equiano . . . sort of. The man who would go on to write the autobiographical memoir, The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano most certainly wrote those words, but he wrote a lot more along the way as well. How are we to account for only some appearing in this work? Well, authors and educators Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge have found an eclectic way to bring old texts to life for young readers. The two took the man’s adventures, including everything from kidnapping to sailing to his multiple death-defying escapes, and turned his book into a found poem. Put another way, they’ve excised the portions that bog down the narrative, rendering the book into a sleek, smart title that any young adult could enjoy. Filled as well with additional explanatory passages that give weight and context to Olaudah’s world, the end result is a whole new way of looking at historical passages, and connecting them to the children of the 21st century.
By complete coincidence a week after I’d started reading this book, someone happened to donate to my library a pristine copy of The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano to my library. Not having a copy on hand, I was delighted to see it, and amazed by how thick the original source material was. I cannot even begin to fathom the amount of work it would take to look at a book that size and think to myself, “Okay. There’s a story in here, we just gotta pluck it out, sometimes piece by piece.” Happily, at the back of “Nearer My Freedom”, the authors reveal their methods in a section called, “Creating a Verse Version.” Here, the reader can see firsthand an original page from Olaudah's book, and then which portions were taken for this adaptation. The authors write, "We crafted the poems solely from hsi words, molding them around poetic devices and forms." Verse poetry in the form of novels isn’t new, of course. And found poems have been around for a long time to. Of course, normally when I think of “found poems” I think of newspaper blackout poetry and stuff like that. The notion of taking a book, a memoir even, from long ago and then systematically removing the outdated elements so that the book is boiled down to its most essential parts… I friggin’ love that idea. Full disclosure, I interviewed Lesley Younge, one of the authors of this book, back in September of 2022, to ask her where the idea behind this book had originated. She wrote me the following:
“Monica [Edinger] and the fourth grade team at The Dalton School introduced me to the story of Olaudah Equiano when I began working there as a new teacher. I had never heard of him before. At the time, they taught the Atlantic Slave Trade as part of a year long study on Immigration and Migration to America. They were using a book by Ann Cameron called The Kidnapped Prince, which is an elementary school level book about Equiano’s life from his kidnapping until he purchased his freedom. One of the projects in our classes was to take pages of that book and create found poems. The verses the students developed were extremely powerful and allowed us to have pretty in depth conversations about the experience of being enslaved and the role the slave trade played in shaping many parts of the world. Monica was working on her own book about a child on the Amistad, which was eventually published as Africa is My Home in 2013. After the success of that book, she came to me with the idea for a book about Olaudah Equiano, based on the found verse project we were doing at Dalton. I thought it was brilliant. We decided to write it for older children – young teens really – since there wasn’t yet an age appropriate version for them.”
That this book originated out of a school project makes it all the more interesting in my eyes. Of course, I can’t help but consider other ramifications of this for other students. What if schools regularly had students create found poems out of the primary sources they hand out? One kid gets the Gettysburg Address. Another the Bill of Rights. Another the “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. And now they must read these intensely, find the parts that stand out, highlight what’s important. By doing this, you make the student do an intensive read they wouldn’t have been inclined to do otherwise. But to then turn around and perform such surgery on a book for an age group lacking in information on a specific person from a specific time? Makes a lot of sense to me anyway. And the fact that it’s a verse memoir will probably make it feel a lot more accessible to readers. When I encounter a verse novel for kids or teens, my first thought is always this: Does it justify the verse? Or are you simply trying to use less words to tell a story? To my mind, verse makes sense when it has a purpose. And writing a book that’s a poem based on an entire memoir? Yeah, I’d say that verse is justified and triply so.
Getting into the nitty gritty of Olaudah’s life itself, Younge and Edinger establish right from the start why this particular man carries with him such outsized importance. Put plainly, he changed hearts and minds. This was the guy who laid the groundwork for the anti-slavery movements that would follow. A predecessor to people like Frederick Douglass, he was one of the few to first put forth the idea that slavery was immoral at a time when this wasn’t a widely considered idea in America or Europe. Then the authors let him tell his own story, and I couldn’t help but notice that Olaudah Equiano does something with his own book that a LOT of children’s books are doing today. Go out and grab a picture book like Born on the Water or An American Story and what is the first thing that they do? While the book is about enslavement, it always starts off by showing what everyday life was in these African nations and tribes. Olaudah too establishes his life and culture prior to enslavement. So he pretty much invented that form of storytelling all the way back in the 1700s, giving his book, even without the found poem aspects, a particularly modern feel.
Of course, what doesn’t slot neatly into today’s books is the simple fact that Olaudah is a product of his times. Sometimes he’ll say something or justify something that doesn’t jive with our current views on his time period. That’s something the authors had to consider early on, and they came up with a pretty neat fix. After all, none of this exists without context. The authors are constantly filling the book with additional information that places everything within a distinct framework. For example, early on they bring up the fact that nations of the world that are rich today often are so because they built their economies on the slave trade. But in terms of Olaudah’s views, they’ll sometimes have to provide some explanation. For example, quite casually he’ll mention his own village’s “slaves” and the fact that they were a part of everyday life. Later, when he’s a free man, Olaudah will talk about transporting the enslaved himself, and even helping to set up plantations. Since the authors are able to pick and choose what they include in this book, why didn’t they cut those complicated portions out? They left them in because history, as much as we might prefer it to be otherwise, is a mess. It’s complicated and strange and rarely straightforward.
The solution that Edinger and Younge came up with to handle such sections is notable. First, they include interstitial sections that give context to what’s already been discussed by our narrator. Then, they’re able to inform readers about topics they might never have considered before. For example, where did the enslaved come from? Our books for kids always show a bunch of white enslavers sneaking into a village to grab people. The fact is, enslavement was a business and businesses, if they work, are run with efficiency. They note that while slavery was an ancient practice that had existed for a long time in different African nations, and that European traders usually waited “in coastal towns, on boats, and in slavery fortresses for captives to be brought to them from the interior lands,” the translatlantic slave trade changed everything. It changed the culture and the political landscapes of Africa as a whole. That’s a more complicated story than you’ll find in a children’s book. For a YA title, however, it’s something that needed to be mentioned.
Near the beginning of the book, Olaudah is recounting his early years and then he says, “Such is the imperfect memory sketch of the manners and customs of a people among whom I first drew breath.” I love that phrase “imperfect memory sketch”. The man lived a rich, full life, packed with near death experiences, and narrow escapes. The whole thing has so many adventures, in fact, that you could never make a full movie out of his life. I envision his story more as a full series on television, with many episodes along the way. Of course, before that happens it needs to be better known to the public, and books like Nearer My Freedom will definitely help to do just that. It’s a more sophisticated and complicated look at the history of slavery then I think a lot of young adults will have encountered before. Its applications in the classroom? Endless. Its importance? Impossible to summarize. A rich, inventive take on how to tell history, sincerely, honestly, and interestingly.
February 25, 2023
To be transparent: I am one of the authors and I am so glad this book exists.
December 24, 2025
2025 reading challenge: poetry
“I look for the hand of God
in the minutest occurrence,
to learn from it a lesson of morality.
In this light every circumstance I have related
was of importance to me.”
Good advice.
I really enjoyed this! Olaudah Equiano had an extremely interesting life, I had no idea he was so widely travelled. What really struck me were the atrocities that were committed against him while being enslaved, and then reading his accounts of working on slave ships as a free man. He really began to speak out against the slave trade and refrained from working in the system once he gave his life to Christ. He faced incredible adversity, making his story all the more inspiring!
“I look for the hand of God
in the minutest occurrence,
to learn from it a lesson of morality.
In this light every circumstance I have related
was of importance to me.”
Good advice.
I really enjoyed this! Olaudah Equiano had an extremely interesting life, I had no idea he was so widely travelled. What really struck me were the atrocities that were committed against him while being enslaved, and then reading his accounts of working on slave ships as a free man. He really began to speak out against the slave trade and refrained from working in the system once he gave his life to Christ. He faced incredible adversity, making his story all the more inspiring!
January 29, 2023
A verse nonfiction told through found poems collected from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography. Such an accessible way to bring a primary source to life, particularly for secondary teachers/students. Young readers will have an entry point into complex themes surrounding not only the slave trade, slavery, abolition, & the historical milieu of the second half of the 18th century, but also a nuanced life full of love, loss, faith, & struggle. Careful attention was clearly paid to being true to Equiano’s words; as a result, the vocabulary will still be a challenge for some adolescent readers, but the structure & background information will help the youngest readers continue to make sense of a life who “by its observation, we [as readers] become better and wiser.”
For educators, parents, & guardians looking to put a person-first book set during the transatlantic slave trade in the hands of adolescent readers, I would start here.
**This review is based on a NetGalley ARC graciously provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.**
For educators, parents, & guardians looking to put a person-first book set during the transatlantic slave trade in the hands of adolescent readers, I would start here.
**This review is based on a NetGalley ARC graciously provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.**
April 24, 2024
One would think that this biography-in-verse would be right in my wheel house. But...
One would think I'd be delighted with an actual biography written by Olaudah Equinano, an 18th century slave and then freeman, then condensed by a process called "found verse" poems would delight and enthrall me, but...
I just couldn't make myself "feel" anything about this real, historical figure's life and troubles. I am not sure if the found poems took so much away that Equinano's voice was muted too or if the original, which I haven't read, was just written that way.
My rating of 4 stars reflects my frustration with that muted, flattened voice. The project itself deserves all the attention it has gained.
One would think I'd be delighted with an actual biography written by Olaudah Equinano, an 18th century slave and then freeman, then condensed by a process called "found verse" poems would delight and enthrall me, but...
I just couldn't make myself "feel" anything about this real, historical figure's life and troubles. I am not sure if the found poems took so much away that Equinano's voice was muted too or if the original, which I haven't read, was just written that way.
My rating of 4 stars reflects my frustration with that muted, flattened voice. The project itself deserves all the attention it has gained.
June 13, 2023
A well written book that shows a slaves drive for freedom and justice. The unique use of creating a novel in verse works well while capturing the character of the protagonist. A great way to teach primary sources and history.
November 27, 2023
I was a little unsure about the premise but these authors pulled it off. The found poems really work and I appreciated the added pieces of context. Would be great in a classroom setting or also for independent reading for an interested young (or old!) reader.
October 29, 2023
I enjoyed the first hand account paired with the context writing. This is a book I wish I had in school and a fascinating read.
December 30, 2023
This nonfiction 'found verse' auto-biography by the formerly enslaved Olaudah Equiano is a treasure. The author takes the real written accounts by Equiano himself to draft a found verse narrative for the ages! This first person account from history will stand with other excellent narratives from the likes of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Solomon Northrup, and Henry Box Brown, among others!
July 16, 2023
This is the abridged version of Olaudah Equiano’s original work, retooled in verse form. I read sections of the original text and found the intent was not lost in the shortening. A lot of what was culled was Equiano’s transformation into Christianity. Which is noted; but not described adnauseum in this version.
I was drawn to this incredible piece of writing/history after so many white racists used it to discredit the anti slavery movement, saying that Africans and freed slaves continued to perpetuate the slave trade, themselves. Anyone who has half a brain can see/read that this was not the case. Africans stolen from their homelands or forced to trade kinsman in order to secure their own family’s safety had NO choice in the matter.
It was sad reading how many times Equiano was betrayed, often by people he trusted. It was horrifying reading the accounts of freed slaves stolen back into slavery or killed. Being a world traveler, Equiano paints a vivid picture of that time period, many different countries/cultures/experiences. His perspective is so unique. We are blessed to have it.
I was drawn to this incredible piece of writing/history after so many white racists used it to discredit the anti slavery movement, saying that Africans and freed slaves continued to perpetuate the slave trade, themselves. Anyone who has half a brain can see/read that this was not the case. Africans stolen from their homelands or forced to trade kinsman in order to secure their own family’s safety had NO choice in the matter.
It was sad reading how many times Equiano was betrayed, often by people he trusted. It was horrifying reading the accounts of freed slaves stolen back into slavery or killed. Being a world traveler, Equiano paints a vivid picture of that time period, many different countries/cultures/experiences. His perspective is so unique. We are blessed to have it.
January 27, 2024
I skim read much of this title to get an overview of Equiano's story. The found poetry style didn't draw me in. Instead, I would have preferred a more traditional biography or to read Equiano's original writings. However, I do think this style will draw in many young adult readers, with the explanatory essays providing good background that could be useful in school settings. I also like the global perspective of the book which comes from Equiano's wide travels, as well as his final home in England where he was part of the abolitionist movement. A change from the many books about slavery which focus on the American slave experience. Equiano is a fascinating person who deserves to be more widely known.
Review based on an eARC from Netgalley.
Review based on an eARC from Netgalley.
August 30, 2024
,Excellent one of my top 5 this year
February 14, 2023
Nearer my Freedom and is excellent retelling of the life of Olaudah Equiano. I did not know his story personally, and now I am grateful for this new and thorough way to understand the slave trade. More importantly, this book shows me the humanity and full picture of Equiano, from childhood to adulthood. I love that the authors of this book use his own words. The "found verse" structure of this book is a compelling way to tell the story, and will help younger readers access it. Verse is particularly effective in getting across the emotion of the text, so that words like "sorrow" and "separation" on their own lines can SHOW the reader as much as it tells them about how dehumanizing and terrible slavery was. I also appreciate the historical context that the authors provide at different sections of the text. The maps are also really edifying.
There's no excuse for not knowing about this time in history. It still defines us, and we will never grow from it until we reckon with it.
I highly recommend this book for adolescents and older, for the classroom and for yourself.
Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.
There's no excuse for not knowing about this time in history. It still defines us, and we will never grow from it until we reckon with it.
I highly recommend this book for adolescents and older, for the classroom and for yourself.
Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.
December 23, 2023
This was such an engaging read. Using Equiano’s own words from his memoir, they put it into poetry making a novel in verse. I was engrossed and eager to keep reading as I learned more about his life and journey in this format. I feel as a student from American schooling we’re not really taught about how slavery was handled elsewhere in the world. To gain insight into how Equiano played a huge role in ending the slave trade in Britain was enlightening. Highly recommend.
September 23, 2023
Created by two educators, this book allows students an entry point into the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. Equinao, a former slave stolen from his village as a child, was pressed into slavery, traveled the world as a mariner, earned his freedom and went to become a prosperous business man. His narrative is a valuable primary source for understanding the horror, violence, and complications of slavery in the 1700s. Edinger and Younge worked from Equiano’s original text highlighting key phrases as one might in a blackout poem. The pair used the selected words to tell the Equinao’s story in a manner that honors the original account, but is more approachable to teen readers. It can be read independently or as a bridge to Equinao’s full text.
October 12, 2023
I do not normally gravitate towards non-fiction, but this story is a retelling of the life of writer and abolitionist, Olaudah Equiano.
The fact that it was written in verse made it less intimidating to read. I wish this would have been part of my readings when I was in school. I felt like I was reading entries straight from Olaudah’s personal journal.
The fact that it was written in verse made it less intimidating to read. I wish this would have been part of my readings when I was in school. I felt like I was reading entries straight from Olaudah’s personal journal.
February 7, 2025
Olaudah Equiano spills the tea on his life from being captured in Africa to surviving the horrors of slavery and eventually buying his freedom. It's raw, real, and a testament to human resilience. Think of it as the ultimate story of leveling up despite the odds.
Equiano doesn't just tell his story; he throws shade at the entire slave trade system, advocating for its abolition. His journey is like watching a historical Netflix series that hits you right in the feels while also making you rage against the injustices. It's a powerful reminder that the fight for justice and equality is an ongoing battle.
Equiano doesn't just tell his story; he throws shade at the entire slave trade system, advocating for its abolition. His journey is like watching a historical Netflix series that hits you right in the feels while also making you rage against the injustices. It's a powerful reminder that the fight for justice and equality is an ongoing battle.
December 11, 2023
This is a fantastic work of creative biography and nonfiction to breathe new life into Oladuah Equiano’s memoir, the very first memoir written by a formerly enslaved person. I first learned about Equiano’s story when we collaborated with the DuSable Museum last year for Black History Month. They were releasing a short film on Equiano. I learned so much essential context about aspects of the slave trade and abolition in England. Essential reading.
September 25, 2023
Aimed at middle grade/YA readers - this is made of easier to understand portions of his autobiography and explanations of the historical period. Very interesting.
November 24, 2023
An excellent recompilation that relates Equiano's many travels, fortunes, and misfortunes. It was a quick read due to the verse style. The story begins with the kidnapping of Equiano and his sister from their village in Africa. He is sold into slavery, and that creates many troubles as well as adventures. Equiano does his best to better himself and makes use of the kindness of others when he can find it. Of course, there is also much mistreatment from others as it is difficult to tell who to trust when they lie to your face about their intentions.
As a middle school librarian, I am unsure if my students will read it, but it is an incredible tale.
I will update later when I can gauge students' reactions.
As a middle school librarian, I am unsure if my students will read it, but it is an incredible tale.
I will update later when I can gauge students' reactions.
November 21, 2023
This was so interesting! I love that the verse of this book is comprised of quotes directly taken from Equiano's writings.
January 7, 2025
Lingering thoughts
-we sometimes support the institutions that we dispose and oppose
-the stories, made from reports on lived experiences, of enslaved people are irreplaceable by our synthesis.and I also appreciate how the author comments on olaudah Equaino’s stories, giving more context of the time he was born into
-how can Americans, people of a nation built off the labor of enslaved people, acknowledge and address the trauma that our society is based on?????
-relates to the ideas in James baldwin’s book The Fire Next Time: we cannot move past the problem of racism in America until all see, feel, know the pain of dehumanization. Otherwise America will continue running off the assumption that some life is essentially exploitable.
-I often think about the transatlantic slave trade as a long long time ago, stories like this one humanize and contextualize. We are not cleansed of the horrors of enslavement because of distance and time. We are all impacted. Butterfly effect type beat.
-we sometimes support the institutions that we dispose and oppose
-the stories, made from reports on lived experiences, of enslaved people are irreplaceable by our synthesis.and I also appreciate how the author comments on olaudah Equaino’s stories, giving more context of the time he was born into
-how can Americans, people of a nation built off the labor of enslaved people, acknowledge and address the trauma that our society is based on?????
-relates to the ideas in James baldwin’s book The Fire Next Time: we cannot move past the problem of racism in America until all see, feel, know the pain of dehumanization. Otherwise America will continue running off the assumption that some life is essentially exploitable.
-I often think about the transatlantic slave trade as a long long time ago, stories like this one humanize and contextualize. We are not cleansed of the horrors of enslavement because of distance and time. We are all impacted. Butterfly effect type beat.
July 15, 2024
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A biography in verse using found poetry from Olaudah Equiano's own autobiography. I absolutely adored this format.
Fantastically constructed. The found verse format was done in a way that made the text and narrative more accessible to a modern reader without losing the original intent.
Throughout the book, there are breakout sections that give more information on the context and history of the events in the narrative. These sections do not shy away from Equiano's complicated situation in terms of his views of "kind" enslavers and his own part in overseeing enslaved people.
A fascinating book in terms of its content and format. Great starting place for those interested in Equiano's life and impact who aren't up for reading his full autobiography.
Highly recommend this one, especially for fans of biographies in verse such as Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler.
A biography in verse using found poetry from Olaudah Equiano's own autobiography. I absolutely adored this format.
Fantastically constructed. The found verse format was done in a way that made the text and narrative more accessible to a modern reader without losing the original intent.
Throughout the book, there are breakout sections that give more information on the context and history of the events in the narrative. These sections do not shy away from Equiano's complicated situation in terms of his views of "kind" enslavers and his own part in overseeing enslaved people.
A fascinating book in terms of its content and format. Great starting place for those interested in Equiano's life and impact who aren't up for reading his full autobiography.
Highly recommend this one, especially for fans of biographies in verse such as Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler.
February 19, 2023
What an interesting person! I first heard of Equiano at the NMAAHC museum in DC, but this book was unique in that it was a retelling of his famous autobiography, but told in found verse in his own words. The meat of his story was there, but told poetically. It was just a really unique read. I find the complexity of his relationship to slavery fascinating: a man who was once enslaved and earned his freedom working temporarily in the slave trade himself before dedicating his life to abolition. That’s a conversation starter for sure and probably caused considerable thought and reflection throughout his life. I was sad he only got 5 years with his wife though. :(
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July 19, 2023I read this book as it has been long-listed for a Newbery Award, but I was mostly disappointed. I appreciate the attempt to make a very old text more accessible to young people, but the format of verse didn't seem to work for me with this particular content. It didn't flow, and felt very chopped up (which it was, actually). I was grateful for the historical information and commentary interspersed throughout the book, adding a deeper understanding of the context in which Equiano's original book was written, but overall, I didn't feel like the authors were successful in what they intended to do with this book.
-Patron R.F.
-Patron R.F.
April 30, 2023
I do not know what to make of found verse where others take someone's words and transform them into free verse as Edinger and Younge do here. When I requested the book on netgalley I did not realize that the book was in found verse or recognize that it transformed his autobiography which I have read before. Having read the autobiography in its original form, I can attest that Edinger and Younge made it eminently more readable and added bits of historical context to help anchor the narrative. I enjoyed the read but don't know where I stand on the manipulation of Equiano's words.
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February 15, 2024Not necessarily crazy about this book although I did learn from it. It was on NJASL's Youth Media Award list as a finalist in their nonfiction category. Olaudah was a slave who bought his own freedom and wrote his autobiography. This book is a novel in verse version of that autobiography. What surprised me most of all is that although he was a slave, once he was free, he worked for men in the slave trading business. He eventually saw the error of his ways, but I found that perplexing. It's not like he didn't have other skills.
May 25, 2023
I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This was an interesting way to introduce readers to Oludah Equiano and his writing. Because of the time period that he was writing, his works are not the easiest to understand for younger readers. This allows readers to read his works in a way that is more accessible and understand what he was saying. It can also serve as an introduction to further study.
This was an interesting way to introduce readers to Oludah Equiano and his writing. Because of the time period that he was writing, his works are not the easiest to understand for younger readers. This allows readers to read his works in a way that is more accessible and understand what he was saying. It can also serve as an introduction to further study.
April 4, 2023
Really stunning and unique. The fact that one person went through all of this and accomplished so much is staggering. I loved the found verse. It was so authentic and accessible. While I really appreciated the additional historical context in between poems, it also had the effect of taking me out of the narrative. I'm not sure how I would solve that problem, since I really appreciated the added explanations. Highly recommend.
May 8, 2023
What an absolutely extraordinary work of art, and a fascinating and creative way to introduce young readers to a foundational historical text. Using poetry to explicate and comment upon a historical narrative is an ingeniously creative move that makes one of history's (rightfully) most famous autobiographies accessible to a broad range of readers, and empowers them to draw connections between our pasts and presents. Incredibly well done.
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