Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley BryanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Author illustrator Ashley Bryan gives voice to the voiceless in this collection of poems inspired by the 1828 Fairchilds Appraisement of the Estate document in a collection of Bryan's slave-related documents from the 1820s to the 1860s, as he explains in the author's note. Opening with a poem from widowed Mrs. Fairchilds to set the stage, the book tells the story of 11 people in 10 poems detailing their current lives, including how they have made the Fairchilds' estate the success that it is, and the lives they have lost that live on in their dreams and hopes for the future. (Little Dora doesn't get her own poem, but she is referenced in several others.)
The book garnered a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor, and it is brightly illustrated. The large format makes it easy to use as a read-aloud. It would be an interesting work to pair with lesson plans on FreedomontheMove.org. It also would work very well in a poetry unit, to explore voice and perspective. I also like the idea of using it in social studies or history as inspiration for a student writing project where students take names from historical documents and embue them with a life that is absent from the page. So many options to explore. There are also an audiobook version and an engaging movie version by Dreamscape Media that can be paired with the written text.
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