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Facing Frederick : the life of Frederick Douglass, a monumental American man
2018
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Publishers Weekly Review
Adopting a conversational tone, Bolden (Crossing Ebenezer Creek) recounts the "legend's life" of "the de facto president of [19th-century] black America," Frederick Douglass, né Bailey (1818-1895). Douglass-a self-emancipated slave, orator, writer, newspaper editor and owner, abolitionist, desegregationist, women's rights advocate, Underground railroad conductor, civil servant, and diplomat-believed that slavery and racism constituted "twin-monsters of darkness." He fought against both, encouraging his audience to invest in durable assets such as education and skills, in order to improve their world. This informative, handsomely designed biography posits that Douglass's break from William Lloyd Garrison in the late 1840s constituted a turning point in Douglass's career; Bolden charts, in detail, his independent voice thereafter, through the battle for emancipation to enfranchisement and the fight against Jim Crow-era "black codes." Contrasting the leonine and financially successful public figure-backed in his early days by English abolitionists-and fallible private person, Bolden skillfully interweaves the political developments of Douglass's time with his personal life. Archival photographs and illustrations, journalistic extracts, a timeline, and other resources are included. Ages 10-14. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Lyons Literary. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Bolden's fact-packed biography of one of America's most influential African Americans presents Frederick Douglass's tireless work as an abolitionist, but it also enumerates his successes and failures as a publisher, professional alliances and disunities, involvement with suffrage, extraordinary travels, and family life. Sources are noted in the narration with scrupulous detail. A time line presenting previously unmentioned facts is offered at the end. Adam Lazarre-White's voice is extremely rich in tone-perhaps a nod to Douglass's speaking voice, which Bolden describes as sonorous. Though at times halting and out of rhythm, the narration adds to the seriousness of the subject's accomplishments and the unspeakable injustices of his time. What the work lacks in insights into Douglass's personality and humanness, it balances with extraordinary details of his impact on humanity. -VERDICT Students of the time period, American history, and social movements will find it valuable to absorb the details of Douglass's extraordinary life.-Jane -Newschwander, Fluvanna County Public Schools, VA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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