Letters from a slave girl Book

Wow! As I turned every page I could not help but feel as if I was living life beside this Slave Girl in the 1830's. The author of this book took me deep into the life of young girl name Harriet Jacob, where I did not experience her life from the outside, but from her personal place where all her thoughts and true feelings were hidden...her diary, letters to her loved ones.

The reality and the rawness of Harriet Jacobs' story is what makes this book so captivating. I experienced each event with Harriet as I read letters that she wrote to her deceased mother, missing family members and loved ones. Harriet's life is a trail of tears as she has to hide her thoughts and sometimes even herself in order to protect what she loves.

Harriet wants what many slaves living during the Civil War wanted, freedom. The letters that she wrote depicted that, especially when her mistress died and she has the chance to finally become free. Freedom comes with a price and I ran beside Harriet as she made each decision in her efforts towards escaping to a better future.

Sometimes I would cringe, when the "Docter" (her slave owner) would walk by, looking for her. I was holding my breath, hoping that if I held mine long enough, he would not hear hers.

I would use this book in a 5th or 6th grade classroom. Not only is the book a biography, but it is set in the style of a diary which can be difficult for younger students to comprehend, especially with the dates jumping all over the place. Older students, in my opinion, will be able to connect the dots in between each entry. Also, the content of the text is difficult. The author writes in a African American dialect which can be challenging, and the situations that Harriet faces are raw. In m opinion, older students would be able to close their eyes and actually imagine what this "Slave Girl" was feeling like and that is what reading a story is all about. Stepping into the words and living along with the character(s).