Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (A Borzoi Book) | Deborah Hopkinson

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (A Borzoi Book) | Deborah Hopkinson | Wonderful history lesson

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Sweet Clara and th...

	Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (A Borzoi Book) Deborah Hopkinson Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2003 - 40 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

As a seamstress in the Big House, Clara is luckier than the slaves who work the fields. Still, she dreams of a reunion with her Momma, who lives on another plantation?and even of running away to freedom. Then she hears two slaves talking about how they could find the Underground Railroad if only they had a map. In a flash of inspiration, Clara sees how she can use the cloth in her scrap bag to make a map of the land?a freedom quilt?that no master will ever suspect. Drawn from true incidents in African-American history, this is a compelling and emotionally charged picture book.

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Fantastic for reading aloud

Deborah Hopkinson's use of dialogue in this story is what really recommends it to be read aloud. The characters come through the story so well through their words. They usually don't come right out and SAY anything, but instead communicate vital information in a round-about sort of way. They pretend not to have a care in the world, all the while desperately plotting against their captors.

This is book would be a great tool for opening up a discussion about why people say one thing when they really mean something else entirely. Also, this book is great for discussing ways of "escaping" authority and subverting roles of apparent compliance.
Sweet Clara deserves a place on the bookshelves of young revolutionaries worldwide.

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Wonderful history lesson

This is one of many books I purchased as a learning tool for the Education Committee of our local quilt guild. It's instrumental in showing our young people some of the history of quilting. It's even fun for "older" people to read.

A tale not often heard

A small quibble before I sink into utter praise. The cover of this book depicts the aforemention sweet Clara and her sweetheart as they run joyfully through the fields. To freedom. Running joyfully, mind you, away from the slave plantation in broad daylight. I'm not saying that there weren't a couple slaves here and there who felt complete and utter joy as they ran, but this scene is positively idyllic. Shouldn't they be afraid of getting caught? Then again, maybe it's just representing the feeling that accompanies such flight, rather than sticking to the strict facts of the matter.

In any case, I began off point and I'm bound to wander off point unless I pull myself up and mosey on over the actual point. Ahem.
ACTUAL POINT: The book is quite good. You don't see that many stories reflecting the quilts that served as maps to lead slaves to freedom. The story is a realistic one, despite everything I said about the cover. And the people are especially well represented. You like Clara. You want her to find her mother and escape off of the plantation. The illustrations are, in pure James Ransome style, beautiful. I've nothing more to say. It's a book that should belong in every library's collection. Nuff said.

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Keep believeing

5. The story is sbout s young girl and she got taken away from he rmother and she was staying with her aunt but it really wasn't her aunt she was just raised around her before she got
moved too.She was trying to find a to get to her mother. She got there because it rained and no one had to work. She got there and seen her mother.
6.This story is an okay story but it wasn't long enough but it was okay. If you like picture books than you wold like this book.
7.Thsi book was also irony because I didn't thin kshe would get to see her mother.
8.I rated thisbook for four stars because it was an okay book.

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Perpetuating a Myth

While Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt is a wonderful work of fiction, it should be considered just that.
While the horror of slavery are age appropriately described so a child can relate...poor Clara is taken from her mother...the story perpetuates a myth...that quilts were used to assist slaves to freedom.
I urge teachers not to use this book in their classrooms prior to further research. Neither Quilt Historians nor African American Studies Historians have been able to connect quilts to the UGRR, and to perpetuate the myth is a disservice to our children and the African American People.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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recommendations

Children's Quilt Story Books 4-teen
Underground Railroad - for kids