Castrovilla, Selene. Seeking Freedom: The Untold Story of Fortress Monroe and the Ending of Slavery in America. E. B. Lewis, Illus. Non-Fiction. Calkins Creek, 01/2022. [44]pp. $18.99. 978-1-63592-582-1. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 1-5.
In forty pages, Castrovilla reshapes our understanding of the cataclysmic fight against slavery in the United States. At the center of the story are George Scott, an enslaved man, and Benjamin Franklin Butler, a Union major general. Butler was the man who broke precedent and refused to return freedom seekers to their putative owners. Scott was the freedom seeker who had intelligence on Confederate whereabouts and was willing to undertake a dangerous mission to gain more. Atmospheric, realistic watercolor illustrations and short, active paragraphs of text frame a gripping story. Primary source quotes ground the text as Butler and Scott fight to win battles and the larger cause of freedom for enslaved people. Back matter includes information on what happened next, including Butler’s lifetime devotion to civil rights. Primary source photographs, bibliography, and information on Barak Obama’s designation of Fort Monroe as a national monument are included.
Melissa McAvoy, Retired
