Why read Freedom Fire?

Book cover of Freedom Fire

Book description

"An unforgettable historical, high-octane adventure." -- Dav Pilkey, author-illustrator of the Dog Man series

Magdalys and the squad are flying south on pteroback. South to rescue her older brother. South to war.The squad links up with the dino-mounted troops of the Louisiana Native Guard, an all-black regiment in the Union…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Freedom Fire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Anna Mae Duane

Author

This middle-grade novel introduces us to a real place—the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York City—and invites us to imagine the historical children who lived there as freedom fighters. Those fights for freedom, it turns out, take place on the back of dinosaurs! While the surprising addition of dinosaur battles might seem like a diversion from the hard work of learning about slavery’s painful history, in Older’s hands, the dinos offer young readers a way to meditate on power and its abuses. Viewed in the context of a Black radical tradition that insists on alternate timescapes, Freedom Fire’s dinosaurs…

From Anna's list on Black New Yorkers you wish you had learned about in history class.