Who Was Sojourner Truth? by Yona Zeldis McDonough

Who Was Sojourner Truth? Reviews

• 
  Calista

  I admit I had never heard of Sojourner Truth was. This written for middle grade. I found it to be informative and well written and I learned a lot from reading it. It is a quick way to learn about people.
  
  Sojourner lived during the same time as Frederick Douglas and she was also born into slavery in New York and gained her freedom. She became a speaker against slavery and for freedom for slaves and women. She spoke at many women's rallies where she was the only black person there. She tried to get congress to give freed slaves 20 acres and a mule in the west as compensation for work done on the backs of a freed nation. She did so much and was so instrumental in our young country. She lived into her 80s. She was an incredible person.
  
  I enjoyed this.
• 
  Sophie Crane

  I recommend it to people who like Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. Good book.
• 
  Andrew

  Did you know...
  
  -That almost 100 years before Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth faced off against a racist Streetcar Conductor
  -First Black Woman to win a case in court, against the illegal selling of a slave;
  -Despite a formal education, literacy, or writing ability, a Narrative Memoir, published in 1850, dictated by Olive Gilbert, would become as successful as Frederick Douglas' own works at the same time;
  -Due to her fighting drive in activism for women's rights and Blacks' rights, she met President Lincoln, President Ulysses S. Grant, and women's rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  -Her name was not originally Sojourner Truth....
  
  Find out all of this and more!
• 
  AMY

  106 pages. Great biography of a truly amazing woman. I learned a lot about her work. She was involved in many causes and was actively working well past her 70s. There is additional information on slave auctions, slave catchers, Quakers, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Seneca Falls Convention, Freedmen’s Hospital, Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, as well as maps and drawings. All of these additional resources, plus the timelines at the end help a reader understand the times in which she lived. It was a really sad story but inspiring. Highly recommended for Grades 4-5 and beyond.
• 
  Kevin Hodgson

  Insights into Truth's life for younger readers ... we have a statue and memorial in my small city for Sojourner Truth, so I am always intrigued by her life and her work ...
• 
  Wade

  Lily and I didn't know anything about Sojourner Truth before reading this book, we now realize that she was a pretty amazing woman.
  
  She was born a slave in about 1797, and went by the name Belle (short for Isabelle) until she chose a new name for herself as an adult. We were sad to learn that she was separated from her family as a child through slave auctions. She grew up speaking Dutch and English with her owners.
  
  A law in New York freed her from slavery when she was about 30 years old, and she spent the rest of her life working to bring justice for people treated unfairly.
  
  We learned about the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857 that affected runaway slaves. We also learned about Quakers and their role in the abolitionist movement. We learned about Jim Crow laws, and the Seneca Falls Convention on women's rights. Belle worked with Fredrick Douglas, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and many others to make the country better for all.
  
  In 1843 she set out to become a traveling preacher, she had always been known by her slave name and decided to change it to reflect who she really was. A sojourner is a traveler, "she was devoting herself to God's word. And God's word was true... Her new name fit her new life: Sojourner Truth." p 48.
  
  She worked with senators and other leaders to bring change, she even met three presidents- Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S Grant.
  
  She traveled and worked hard for fairness until the end of her life, teaching former slaves and others the skills they needed to live better lives, sharing her experiences in speeches and books, and fighting for voting rights for women. She lived to be 86 years old. "Sojourner Truth's bold spirit lives on. Her work and her words continue to inspire and instruct. She was one of America's great heroes, and she will be remembered always." p 103.
• 
  Emily

  1. Categories/Genres: Non-fiction/middle grades
  2. Copyright date: 2015
  3. Estimate of age level of interest: grades 3-6
  4. Estimate of reading level: 2.9
  
  5. Brief description: This inspirational book describes Sojourner Truth's life- who was born as a slave, given freedom, and then fought as a leader in the abolition and women's rights movements. It also provides sidebars with brief biographies of other leaders, like Fredrick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and descriptions of places and events important to the story.
  
  6. Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book.
  -Good nonfiction writers "should be concerned with feeling as well as thinking and passion as well as clarity" (Huck, p. 257). Readers will feel anger for the situations Truth faces, such as the time that a housemaid sabatoges her work. They will see her passion- and that of those around her- and understand she made an impact.
  -This book is organized in clear ways. Chapters focus on specific times in Truth's life. Instead of cluttering the text with extra descriptions, sidebars are used to delve further into those matters.
  
  7. In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
  Middle grades:
  The subject and issues in this book are appropriate for this audience. I find it hard to believe that many third and forth graders could read this book, though, with words like abolition and proper names. It does provide a clear picture of Truth's life and her accomplishments.
  
  There is no index, though there are timelines and a bibiliography which includes books for young readers.
  
  8. Awards: None
  
  9. Citations for published reviews from professional sources: None
  
• 
  Thomas Andrikus

  It's very inspiring to read about the life of one of the greatest women in American history. She was neither a politician nor a member of clergy, and yet her lifelong striving for the progress for the emancipation of both black people and women in the 19th century was perhaps one of the greatest gifts she had bequeathed to today's society.
• 
  Melenia

  Good read
• 
  Pascale

  Sojourner Truth was a freed slave, who argued for woman's rights, and equality for all races. She was a really great lady. The writing was OK, but it was kind of boring at times.
• 
  Memory Toast

  Not a gripping read, but I did learn something about this remarkable American figure.
• 
  Janet

  I learned a lot about this woman, born a slave, who worked tirelessly for women's rights as well as equality for all races. I appreciated the excerpt of her "Ain't I a Woman" speech, too.
• 
  Sarah

  Didn't actually know many details of Truth's life, so decided to read this one before I passed it on. Given Truth's strong faith and time as a traveling preacher, the book sounds a lot more religious than I expected, enough that I stopped to check that this was a real Who HQ book and not a Christian knockoff!
  
  I was pretty unhappy to learn about New York's method for ending slavery, which involved keeping children who had been born into slavery enslaved until they were 28 (men) or 25 (women). It was also interesting to learn that Truth took white men to court twice--once for selling her son after the New York gradual emancipation law had passed, once for physically harming her when she tried to get on a Washington, DC streetcar before her white friend--and won both times.
  
  From slavery to freedom, working for others to working for herself, abolition and suffrage, all sorts of assissting the poor and promoting education, and even personal meetings with three presidents... Few women have had such interesting lives!
• 
  Sarah Hayes

  This book is about a girl named Sojourner Truth and she was a girl who was very upset because in this period of time there was slaves and she was losing a lot of her brothers and sisters because they were being sold to farmers for work and to other people. So one day she got taken away from he her mom and dad and had to leave. He owner was a men man and he would hurt her and abuse he and she did not what this life but she had to have it. Because one day she would be set free. Sojourner had had a lot of owners and just kept on moving she once had a slave owner that she loved and cared about so much because they treated he with respect and they gave her food a bed and close and that is all that she wanted in her life was respect, to be set free and for there to not be slaves. She married a guy and he got sold she had a boy and some other kids. She was set free and she went on to talk about all of her adventures and joined a church to sing and to share the love with god.
• 
  Goddess of Chaos

  "James was sick and old. Yet he saw Belle’s suffering and knew he had to help her."
  
  Sojourner Truth, born a slave, called Belle as a child, spent her adult life on a journey to share her Truth, the truth of the world as she knew it, she preached the word of God, but more than that, she championed the cause of the poor, those who were without a voice, she understood the challenges facing those moving into a life of freedom, and she worked to help them enter that new life, and have a successful future.
  
  This book does a nice job of explaining how an illiterate woman found herself going on speaking tours, selling her own book, helping others to understand a way of life they'd never lived, with hopes it would in turn inspire them.
• 
  Melinda

  I learned a lot reading this children’s biography of Sojourner Truth. Hers is a name I heard a number of times, but I knew almost nothing about her. Her lifelong service and activism is impressive. The simple line drawing illustrations were good. I still have to downgrade this to 4 stars. I think a Black author could add a level of insight into the description of enslaved life, freed Black woman life and what it was like to campaign for women’s rights next to financially comfortable white women.
• 
  Jodi

  Natalie read this aloud for history.
  
  It was a fairly simple telling, and could have been improved with adjectives, more descriptive writing, and more complex sentences. It worked okay as an introduction to Sojourner Truth, but wasn't very compelling. It was clean and appropriate, and mainly factual; perhaps best used by a student for reading practice.
  
  It was slightly inspiring, but if it had been written in a more living way, it could have been more powerful.
• 
  Dan

  Before reading this book, I knew her name but nothing of what she had done in her life. Sojourner Truth was a true wanderer in this world but her wandering brought about change in people's attitudes towards African Americans. She pointed out that women worked just as hard as men but were paid half their wages. She fought for justice when others were afraid to speak out. It is amazing how much can be learned from such a small book.
• 
  Sundee Perkins

  Sojourner Truth was another woman whose name I knew but didn't really know anything about. She was amazing! Her dedication to helping black people stabilize in a post-Civil War world, and the obstacles she faced, are stunning. WhoHQ did a wonderful job explaining her life, her goals, and her legacy.
• 
  Della Tingle

  I have read many of these “Who Was” books, and they are all informative, enjoyable reads. I didn’t know a lot about Sojourner Truth. She led a life filled with tragedy, loss, and pain, yet, she persevered. She never gave up on herself or on humanity and constantly fought to make the world a better place for all, especially for blacks and women. ❤️