12 Years a slave

Stolen Into Slavery: the true story of Solomon Northup, free Blackman by Judith and Dennis Fradin is a retelling of the harrowing years Solomon spent as a slave in the southern US and is appropriate for middle grade students.

The movie version of Northup’s autobiography garnered much attention and won an Oscar last year making the story more widely known.  This book is based on Solomon’s book, Twelve Years a Slave.

This volume recounts how Solomon was kidnapped, bought and sold to different owners, his life as a slave, people he would have known, his thoughts and efforts to escape and eventually how he was able return to his northern life and family.

It was brutal.  It’s almost beyond imagining how a man could sustain any hope of resuming his freedom while living as a slave.  But, though covered in the book, I found the descriptions of the punishing treatment not overly graphic.  It tells of unrelenting work, destitute living conditions and spirit-grinding inhumaneness.  There are photographs and illustrations throughout the book though not in great number.

The book is highly readable and quite gripping in some parts.  Tension builds when Solomon contemplates escape or when white men plot against him. It was particularly interesting to read about the criminal case brought against the two men who had initially kidnapped Solomon and how they were not charged by instilling doubt about their role in Solomon’s enslavement.  According to them, Solomon wanted to be sold as a slave.

It’s a fascinating story made accessible to younger people, grades 5 and up.