October 08, 2005
Child out of Place - A Story of New England
by Patricia Q. Wall explores slavery and it's repercussions
through the eyes of a 10-year-old Matty, a child servant
in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1806. It takes readers
through the emotional journey of one family’s
enslavement and provides an eye-opening account of the
human cost and true nature of freedom for former slaves.
After her grandmother and great uncle recount the
shocking story of her family's enslavement and road to
freedom, Matty begins to plan her escape to find her
missing father and fulfill his dream for a better life.
But before she can act, a raging fire threatens to
change their lives and keep them bound to the Warren
family.
The story is a look into a part of the American slavery
experience that is rarely talked about: the servitude of
Africans in Northern States. Though her family was
provided with freedom papers while she was a young girl,
the story goes on to describe the implied slavery due to
the fear of slave kidnapers as well as the caste-like
system between blacks and whites in New England.
The author's intent, it seems, is to provide a book that
can be easily read by fourth and fifth graders to
provide them with a child's perspective of slavery and
implied indenture of Africans in the early history of
America. Using the 10-year old Matty to express her fear
and hopes helps young readers to more easily identify
with her situation, and this part of pre Civil War
slavery history.
This book is a nice introduction to the topic of slavery
in the North, and provides an ideal framework for upper
elementary and middle school teachers to facilitate
discussion about slavery, freedom, hope and the
perseverance of family dreams. It gives a voice to the
many untold stories of slavery in New England. Patricia
Wall also provides some nice resources and sources to
allow readers to explore this topic a bit deeper. Being
only 101 pages with medium size text, children from ages
8 to 12 should be able to read this book in one to three
sittings.
