PRISCILLA AND THE HOLLYHOCKSby Anne Broyles, illustrated by Anna Alter (Charlesbridge)
One of the great joys of reading is learning something you really didn't know before, and I really didn't know that some members of the Cherokee tribe who were trying to assimilate with European settlers owned African-American slaves (though not without controversy within the tribe). This is the true story of one young African-American girl who, as a result of being enslaved in a Cherokee family, accompanied them on the Trail of Tears, a five hundred mile genocidal treck in freezing weather. She was rescued by a man who saw her by chance, tracked her down and bought her freedom, raising her as one of the family. The growing and blooming of flowers through the story is a moving and hopeful allegory, and the stark differentiation of a life under another's thumb compared to a life of freedom and inclusion is effectively drawn. A powerful, interesting book that retells a painful chapter in American history through the eyes of a brave child. (7 and up)
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