This story is about a 13 year old girl, Willy, and her life goes through dramatic changes towards the end of the American Revolution. She is from a family of former slaves in Connecticut that had gained freedom because her father offered to fight in the war. Since slaves were not allowed to enlist, his military owner set him (and his family) free so that he could fight. One day, Willy accompanies her father to the fort and ends up getting caught up in the fighting. She witnesses her father getting killed and when she escapes and gets home, she finds out that her mother was taken by the British to NYC. Since she had very short hair, had been wearing "milking breeches" and her father's hat, Willy easily was able to pass for a boy which allowed her certain freedoms of movement that she wouldn't have as an African-American young woman. She faces many difficulties making her way to NYC in order to rescue her mother, but she also makes a few friends (a powerful tavern owner and his young employee Horace) that help her along the way. The story follows Willy until she's nearly 16 years old, so one really gets the sense of how Willy's experiences shape her adult life.
I really enjoyed this story. It was told from a rather unique perspective. Often, we tend to forget that slavery wasn't limited to the South early in America's history and that the Northern states also had their share of slavery at the inception of our country. Willy is moving around in New York and Connecticut and is constantly afraid of being brought back into slavery because she didn't have the freedom papers her father received when he was set free. This especially becomes a problem when she looks to her aunt, uncle, and cousin for help and their master tries to find ways to claim Willy as his slave. Although this book takes place during the American Revolution, there are only a few direct references to things that are happening during the war since Willy herself really isn't directly involved. However, there is a lot of focus on why Willy identifies herself as an American despite the fact that she also feels she has a right to want to distance herself from the same people who want to make her a slave again. There is a Historical Note section at the end that discusses what parts of the story are true, and although Willy's story is fictional, many of the other characters from the story are based directly on people who lived and died during the American Revolution.
I feel that this book would be most appropriate for very late elementary school (5th grade) up through middle school and even high school. Although the reading level is on the easy side (5th grade or so), the content can be very mature at times (Willy's fear of being violated by soldiers when they try to feel through her clothing to determine her gender, violence, and the use of the n-word repeatedly, which is also noted in the Historical Note section as being accurate to the time period, thus included in speech patterns). The maturity of the child would really depend on if I felt they could handle reading it. Again, it's easy to read in terms of reading level, but it is very mature in terms of content and language. This is one of three books in the "Arabus Family Saga" and one of those book Jump Ship to Freedom is a frequently challenged/ banned book due to language. All in all, I found it to be a very eye opening read, one that I feel would be of a great benefit for most kids as long as they can handle a few relatively mature topics.
I really enjoyed this story. It was told from a rather unique perspective. Often, we tend to forget that slavery wasn't limited to the South early in America's history and that the Northern states also had their share of slavery at the inception of our country. Willy is moving around in New York and Connecticut and is constantly afraid of being brought back into slavery because she didn't have the freedom papers her father received when he was set free. This especially becomes a problem when she looks to her aunt, uncle, and cousin for help and their master tries to find ways to claim Willy as his slave. Although this book takes place during the American Revolution, there are only a few direct references to things that are happening during the war since Willy herself really isn't directly involved. However, there is a lot of focus on why Willy identifies herself as an American despite the fact that she also feels she has a right to want to distance herself from the same people who want to make her a slave again. There is a Historical Note section at the end that discusses what parts of the story are true, and although Willy's story is fictional, many of the other characters from the story are based directly on people who lived and died during the American Revolution.
I feel that this book would be most appropriate for very late elementary school (5th grade) up through middle school and even high school. Although the reading level is on the easy side (5th grade or so), the content can be very mature at times (Willy's fear of being violated by soldiers when they try to feel through her clothing to determine her gender, violence, and the use of the n-word repeatedly, which is also noted in the Historical Note section as being accurate to the time period, thus included in speech patterns). The maturity of the child would really depend on if I felt they could handle reading it. Again, it's easy to read in terms of reading level, but it is very mature in terms of content and language. This is one of three books in the "Arabus Family Saga" and one of those book Jump Ship to Freedom is a frequently challenged/ banned book due to language. All in all, I found it to be a very eye opening read, one that I feel would be of a great benefit for most kids as long as they can handle a few relatively mature topics.
