Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley (Great Episodes)

Kidnapped from her home in Senegal and sold as a slave in 1761, a young girl is purchased by the wealthy Wheatley family in Boston. Phillis Wheatley—as she comes to be known—has an eager mind and it leads her on an unusual path for a slave—she becomes America's first published black poet. "Strong characterization and perceptive realism mark this thoughtful portrayal."— Booklist

A fictional account of Phillis Wheatley, the slave who became America's first published black poet

The ALAN Review

Here is a beautifully written story true to the historical facts of the life of Phillis Wheatly, America's first black poet. Yeet its credibility rests in its imaginative treatment of Phillis Wheatley the human being, of how a young African slave might have learned to read and write American English in pre-Revolutionary-War Boston. The novel is written as Phillis Wheatley might have written a memoir covering the period in her life from ages seven through approximately twenty-one; that is, from Keziah's abduction from a Senegal rice field by her vengeful uncle's warriors to her interview with General George Washington as free nigra woman Phillis Wheatley. Especially moving is her description of the middle passage between Senegal and Boston on the slave ship Phillis. Complementing a study of Phillis Wheatley's poetry might be her running commentary on the significance of writing and on her writing process. Her easy conversational style should make historical detail pleasantly consumable to young readers studying the period. In fact, Ann Rinaldi's fascinating Author's Note discusses the interplay of fact and fiction in the story. This book has strong interdisciplinary potential. It was much enjoyed and is highly recommended.

A fictionalized biography of the eighteenth-century African woman who, as a child, was brought to New England to be a slave, and after publishing her first poem when a teenager, gained renown throughout the colonies as an important black American poet.