Let My People Go: Bible Stories Told by a Freeman of Color
144Let My People Go: Bible Stories Told by a Freeman of Color
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Overview
In this extraordinary collection, Charlotte Jefferies and her father Price, a former slave, introduce us to twelve best loved Bible tales, from Genesis to Daniel, and reveal their significance in the lives of African Americans--and indeed of all oppressed peoples.
When Charlotte wants to understand the cruel injustices of her time, she turns to her father. Does the powerful slaveholder, Mr. Sam Riley, who seems to own all that surrounds them, also own the sun and moon? she wonders. Price's answer is to tell the story of Creation. How can God allow an evil like slavery to exist? she asks. Price responds by telling the story of the Hebrews' Exodus -- and shows Charlotte that someday their people, too, will be free.
With exquisite clarity, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack and James Ransome -- a Newbery Honor winner and all Coretta Scott King Award winners -- brilliantly illuminate the parallels between the stories of the Jews and African-American history. Let My People Go is a triumphant celebration of both the human spirit and the enduring power of story as a source of strength.
Our hope is that this book will be like a lighthouse that can guide young readers through good times and bad....The ideas that these ancient stories hold are not for one people, at one time, in one place. They are for all of us, for all times, everywhere.
--from the Authors' Note to Let My People Go
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781481418997 |
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Publisher: | Atheneum Books for Young Readers |
Publication date: | 04/29/2014 |
Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 144 |
File size: | 74 MB |
Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
Age Range: | 12 - 17 Years |
About the Author
Fredrick McKissack has nearly twenty years experience as a writer and an editor. His articles, op-eds, and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, Vibe magazine, and others. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his wife, Lisa, and their son, Mark.
James E. Ransome’s highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King winner The Creation; Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop; Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt; and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. James is also a recipient of the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award. He frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome, and their books include Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams and Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis. James is a professor and coordinator of the MFA Illustration Graduate Program at Syracuse University. He lives in New York’s Hudson River Valley region with his family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.
Read an Excerpt
From Chapter To Slay a Giant
But thou hast saved us from our enemies,
and hast put them to shame that hated us.
In God we boast all the day long,
and praise thy name for ever."
The boy took careful aim and rushed toward the giant. He let the stone fly. Swoooooooh! It hit Goliath square in the middle of his forehead.
Goliath shook from head to toe, blinked his eyes, and keeled over like a rootless tree. Quickly, David rushed for a sword and chopped off the giant's head.
The Philistines scattered like snakes fleeing from fire when they saw that a mere boy had defeated the best among them.
Word spread quickly that David had killed the Philistine giant. The Israelites loved him and sang songs 'bout him. But David gave God the glory.
David the shepherd boy was a natural-born leader who would go on to become one of the greatest kings of Israel. During his long and glorious life, he had to slay many giants that loomed tall in the form of big, big troubles and great mistakes. How did he do it? Hear King David's voice, singing to us from the ages:
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he mediate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree, planted by the river water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper...
the way of the ungodly shall perish."
Text copyright © 1998 by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack Illustrations copyright © 1998 by James Ransome
Table of Contents
ContentsAuthors' Note
Illustrator's Note
Charlotte's Introduction
Something Wonderful Out of Nothing
The Creation
Making Choices
The Fall and Cain and Abel
The Big Water
Noah and the Flood
A Love Worth Waiting For
Jacob and Rachel
How Can You Forgive?
The Story of Joseph
God Will Not Hold With Wrong
Moses and the Exodus