I read this in 3rd grade, and it was my first book about slavery & the Civil War. It made such a mark on my mind that I can still vividly recall several parts of the book, often more clearly than my recent reads.

This is a truly excellent book. ( )

4/26/22

"I got to put my scaredness under my feet and stand on it," she told herself firmly.

Slave Girl tells the story of Cowslip, an orphaned slave in the beginning years of the American Civil War, sold at 13 to pay her owner's debts. Told in the 3rd person, the reader is given a window into the mind and heart of an incredibly brave and compassionate girl, as she grows in experience and wisdom. Dreadful, but common to to the American slave experience, events happen, one after another: the steady diet of fear, loss of loved ones, glimmers of hope, dashed hopes, brutalities, humiliations of the most cruel & unusual kind...along with succinct explanations of slave culture, if I may call it that...to laugh, to keep one's face blank as a wall.

Published for Scholastic in 1973, this is a gem. I appreciated the understated, yet easy to understand, depictions of Cowslip's life and world. Betsy Haynes, the author, has respect for her material and for her readers. ( )