Freedom Over Me

I have spent several hours in the last two weeks researching my family history - looking through census records, cemetery files and genealogical indices for my ancestors. Why did great-grandma have three different daughters named Josephina? Did great-great-uncle Albert really never have any kids? Why does Theodore appear in the 1900 census record with his family but disappear in the 1910 census? You may not believe this when I say it, but those of you who have searched out your family will understand: Family history work is addicting. Just one more record . . . just one more son . . . three hours later . . .

So I was particularly interested in the author's origin story for this 50-page picture book: an original document appraising an estate in 1828. An image of that document appears in the first three pages and I was mesmerized, trying to read the handwriting and decipher the words. What makes this estate appraisal story-worthy (50 pages on an appraisement?!) is that it included people. Slaves. Eleven of them. And the author (Ashley Bryan, who happens to be 93 years old and male) creates and tells their stories - what they do for the Fairchild family, but also where they came from, who they love, what they miss and what they long for. The idea of this book was much more interesting to me than the actual book. I had a hard time connecting with the individuals' stories with only two pages of character development. The prose was nicely written, I guess, but not particularly engaging to me. The artwork was lovely, yes. And the author is 93. I might recommend this book based solely on that fact.

This is the page that had me hooked. Look at that document!