Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

Harriette Gillem Robinet, Wendell Minor

Book cover for Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule
Image for variant 9780689833175
Book cover for Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule
Image for variant 9780689833175

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

Harriette Gillem Robinet, Wendell Minor

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Description
Could it be true? Pascal's runaway brother was back saying they were free! The slaves had been freed by President Lincoln! And besides, Gideon and maybe a mule just for the asking. Gideon said land meant freedom.

That night Pascal, twelve, and his friend Nelly, eight, ran away with Gideon. They were going to get a farm. They had to hide lest they be taken back into slavery. Also land didn't seem as easy to find as Gideon had thought. What did it mean if you had to run and hide, if you were crippled and couldn't do what others did?

Joined by other former slaves, Pascal, Gideon, and Nelly did find a farm. They even found a school that Pascal and Nelly could attend. They learned about dignity and the Freedmen's Bureau and the Union League and the Republicans. But they also discovered it was not easy for former slaves to stay free and to keep their land.

About the Author

Harriette Gillem Robinet was born in Washington, DC, and spent her childhood summers in Arlington, Virginia where her mother's father had been a slave under General Robert E. Lee. She attended the College of New Rochelle in New York and received graduate degrees in microbiology from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. The author of several award-winning books for children, Ms. Robinet makes her home in Oak Park, Illinois.

Wendell Minor has illustrated dozens of picture books, and his work has won countless awards and is in permanent collections of such institutions as the Museum of American Illustration and the Library of Congress. His cover illustrations have graced some of the most significant novels of our time by authors such as Toni Morrison, David McCullough, and James Michener. He lives in Washington, Connecticut. Visit him online at MinorArt.com.

Critical Reviews

"A stirring story of self-determination".

-- School Library Journal

Publishing Information

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
Pub date: 2000-02-01
Length: 144 pages

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