The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo

by K.J. McWilliams

The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo is about a 12 year old girl living with her Mammy and Pappy on a rice plantation near Charles Town, South Carolina. She cares for her two mistresses' daughters and at night secretly attends the forbidden Pit School in the woods. There she learns to read and write and meets Taleteller Frank who tells African tales about Rascally Spider Bill. When Mistress Kate moves her family and some of her slaves to Charles Town for the summer, Ruby Jo and her friends witness the true historical event of Blackbeard and his 400 pirates holding Charles Town hostage in order to obtain badly needed medical supplies for his men. This middle-grade/young adult book is a diary written by a fictional African-American girl who records her many sad, funny, exiting, and poignant experiences.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001