Book cover of Taking Liberty

Book description

Based on an extraordinary true story, this young adult novel follows an young enslaved woman’s struggle to take what is rightfully hers.

When I was four and my daddy left, I cried, but I understood. He had become part of the Gone.

Oney Judge is a slave. But on…

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Why read it?

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

This young adult novel, based on a real person, focuses on the complex relationships between enslaved people and those that claimed them as property.

The real Oney Judge’s escape from President George Washington’s Philadelphia home so angered the founding father that he never stopped trying to recapture her. He couldn’t understand why she’d left because, in his eyes, she’d been treated like a member of the family.

I’m familiar with Oney’s story, but I loved hearing it from her point of view (as envisioned by author Rinaldi). I’m an Ann Rinaldi fan—she wrote dozens of works of historical fiction. She…

If you love Taking Liberty...

Book cover of The Stormy Night

The Stormy Night by MJ Howson,

The Stormy Night is the first in a series of nine children's books for ages 8-12. The stories follow two dogs–a senior, disabled dog and a newly adopted puppy–as they learn to become friends and family.

The Adventures of Lucky and Mr. Pickle series are chapter books, not picture books.…

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Cinderelliot by Mark Ceilley,

A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.

Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…

Book cover of On the Horizon

On the Horizon by Lois Lowry,

Lois Lowry looks back at history through a personal lens as she draws from her own memories as a child in Hawaii and Japan, as well as from historical research, in this stunning work in verse for young readers.

On the Horizon tells the story of people whose lives were…

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