Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself

by Monica Edinger, Lesley Younge

Overview

Millions of Africans were enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, but few recorded their personal experiences. Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is perhaps the most well known of the autobiographies that exist. Using this narrative as a primary source text, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge share Equiano's life story in "found verse," supplemented with annotations to give readers historical context. This poetic approach provides interesting analysis and synthesis, helping readers to better understand the original text. Follow Equiano from his life in Africa as a child to his enslavement at a young age, his travels across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, his liberation, and his life as a free man.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728464077
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/07/2023
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	167,759
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	11 - 12 Years

About the Author

Monica Edinger is a retired classroom teacher and the author of the children's book Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad (Candlewick 2013), which won the 2014 Children's Africana Book Award and Nearer My Freedom (co-written with Lesley Younge) which was a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist. Monica is a children's book world influencer with a large following on her blog, educating alice. She has contributed reviews and articles for the Horn Magazine and The New York Times, served on several award committees, and published numerous books and articles for educators. She is based in New York.

Lesley Younge is a writer, mother, and educator currently teaching middle school English and math in Washington D.C. Originally from Southern California, she graduated from New York University and Bank Street College of Education. Lesley has developed curriculum with a wide range of organizations such as the Central Park Conservancy, the Museum of Art and Design, the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project, the Zinn Education Project, and the National Museum of Asian Art. Now she is the author of two books for young people, Nearer My Freedom and A-Train Allen. A fellow of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and Anaphora Literary Arts, Lesley blogs regularly at teacherlesley.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/30/2023

Using the historic autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself as this book’s source material, educators Edinger (Africa Is My Home) and Younge, a debut author, craft a moving found-verse narrative that draws from the subject’s life to deliver an expansive and textured telling. In this significant adaptation, the authors mirror Equiano’s chronological trajectory to outline his early life “in that part of Guinea, Africa... where trade for slaves is carried on”; his time as an enslaved person, during which he “determined to seize the first opportunity/ of making my escape”; and his later occupation as a free abolitionist. According to an introduction, the creators reorganized “a selection of words, phrases, and sentences” from Equiano’s text into new and succinct passages, providing an effective and unusual through line to the original. Brief sidebars throughout offer historical context, ensuring that readers grasp the gravity of the subject’s experiences. Without losing the source text’s emotional heft, Edinger and Younge’s visceral poems respectfully provide an effective entry point into the seminal work. A timeline, glossary, and extensive notes conclude. Ages 10–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 04/01/2023

Gr 7 Up—Olaudah Equiano, born in West Africa in 1745, was captured and enslaved as a preteen and forced to work at sea. He was afforded unique opportunities while enslaved, taught to read, and able to earn wages. At 21, Equiano bought his freedom. After this, he often swore off working at sea only to find he had no other way to support himself. The authors don't shy away from Equiano's complicated relationship with slavery; he often had to work on ships carrying enslaved Africans. In 1789, he published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, which became very popular and is still in print today. With this success, he was finally able to support himself and family away from the sea. He went on to become one of the most influential antislavery activists in England. Using text found in his autobiography, Edinger and Younge recreate Equiano's life story as a found verse narrative. In this form, the story makes for compelling reading that moves quickly. The story is broken up with useful sidebars giving background information. It is well documented with a time line, glossary, source notes, bibliography, and further reading. VERDICT This important and unique work introduces this pivotal man to a new audience and will make for interesting classroom discussions. Strongly recommended.—Karen T. Bilton

School Library Journal

"This flawless and well-composed performance is an invaluable addition to youth collections, giving listeners the important story of a truly remarkable man."—starred, Booklist, audio book published by Listening Library

From the Publisher

★ 2022-11-29
An important narrative presented with clarity.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (1789) remains one of the best-known stories about the life of an enslaved African man in the 18th century. Equiano was born in the kingdom of Benin and kidnapped and sold into slavery as a young person. His experiences of the Middle Passage, described in detail, were brutal. After working in the Caribbean, he was shipped to a plantation in Virginia and a life of bondage. When he was sold to a British naval officer, Equiano was given a new name against his will, but he formed relationships that allowed him to learn to read and write. Through it all, he never lost his dream of liberty and the resolve to purchase his freedom. Once he was successful, he took on an apprenticeship as a hairdresser and eventually had more adventures, traveling to Turkey, among other places. His autobiography formed part of his abolitionist efforts and was important to the movement that eventually ended the institution of slavery in Britain. This highly successful adaptation of his original work uses Equiano’s own words, turned into found verse and supplemented with important historical context that makes this primary source accessible. The overall result is exceptionally readable as well as informative.

An excellent way to understand a remarkable individual and his times. (creating a verse version, timeline, glossary, source notes, bibliography, further reading, index, photo acknowledgements) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews