Review by Booklist Review
It's 1849 and Eliza and her family live in a St. Louis jail while the court ponders their status as free or slave. Her father is Dred Scott, whose bid for freedom will culminate in the famous Supreme Court decision years later. Eliza fumes, secretly learns to read, and longs for a future in a more just world. MacColl and Nichols paint a vivid picture of slavery's brutal yoke. Nowhere is this more sharply etched than in the tension between daughter and parents as Eliza tries to live in the world and spread her wings. Mother Harriet knows her teen daughter, even with free status, could be kidnapped by unscrupulous slave traders. As if the slavery crisis were not burdensome enough, a cholera outbreak and then a large fire steeps the city and its people in more misery. Expect a savvy, energetic fighter in Eliza, and suspenseful plotting in this fine piece of historical fiction from the Hidden Histories series.--O'Malley, Anne Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-History comes alive in this imagining of the life of Eliza Scott, one of the daughters of Dred Scott, the slave at the center of a landmark case in American history. This novel begins after the Scott family has sued their owners for their freedom and they're waiting to hear a verdict. The Scotts are forced to live in the St. Louis, MO, jail, and all of the wages they earn are held in escrow by the sheriff. Not much is known about the real-life Eliza, but these authors' depict her as brave, headstrong, and intelligent. She attends a secret school for black children where she has learned to read, and she longs for a different life than that of her parents. But it is her fear of being imprisoned that ultimately puts her freedom in jeopardy. Against her mother's wishes, Eliza takes a job with one of her father's former owners, Charlotte Charless. In the midst of the chaos and fear caused by a cholera outbreak, Eliza crosses paths with the greedy son of Charlotte, Mark Charless, who is desperate for money to fund his Gold Rush dreams. As her family is fighting for their freedom, Eliza's own struggle takes a more dramatic and immediate turn. Not shying away from some of the ugly truths from this part of our country's history, this book addresses slavery, kidnapping, and the overall appalling treatment of black people. While the characterization is well done, the dialogue is a bit stiff. Ultimately, however, this book is a compelling and exciting narrative as well as a window into a possible history. VERDICT A great choice to support school curriculum.-Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This highly fictionalized account focuses on Dred Scott's eleven-year-old daughter, Eliza, and takes place while the family waits for the results of their case for freedom. While a spunky protagonist, Eliza's motivations feel inconsistent with the era; she seems almost unaccustomed to racial prejudice. Given the ultimate outcome of the case, the ending is tidy. An informative author's note adds value. Reading list. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This entry in MacCall and Nichols' Hidden Histories series takes a fictional look at the Dred Scott decision. Eliza Scott lives like she's free, but her liberty is tenuous, at best. She is the 11-year-old daughter of Dred Scott, the litigant in the eponymous 1857 U.S. Supreme Court case regarding African-Americans' liberties. She and her family live in a nether life between independence and slavery, and she, like quite a few hardheaded preteens, wants to live as though freedom is an assumption, not a wish. However, the realities the Scotts experience curtail Eliza's sense of entitlement. They must live in a St. Louis jail while awaiting the outcome of the trial and avoid slave catchers who, as her mother reminds Eliza, could kidnap her and sell herand then there's the cholera outbreak that kills regardless of race or gender. As she struggles with this contradiction, she manages to make decisions that jeopardize her, her family, and her community. The narrow-escape scenarios MacColl and Nichols create shouldn't lead readers to cheer Eliza's pluck so much as to shake their heads at her foolhardinessand in the antebellum United States, such foolhardiness would have led to sexual violence, if not death. While most middle-grade readers may not know this, presenting it as otherwise, even in a fictional frame, does both them and history a disservice. It's understandable to want to create spunky historical heroines, but some children in the past weren't free to be headstrongtheir survival depended on caution. To write fiction otherwise becomes gross revisionism. (author's note, sources, further reading) (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
