Letters from a Slave Boy by Mary E. Lyons

Letters from a Slave Boy: The Story of Joseph Jacobs, by Mary E. Lyons, reviewed by Stacey Vogl, Wickes Library
(Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007, 197 pages, $15.99)

The year is 1839. Nine-year-old Joseph Jacobs, born to a slave mother and white father, begins a series of letters, addressed initially to his mother, but later to others. Through these letters, the reader is exposed to the harsh realities of being born into slavery. Over the next 14 years, he escapes to Boston, works on a whaling ship, and travels to New York and, later, California. This historical work of fiction is based on the real-life stories of Harriet and Joseph Jacobs. Letters is a very exciting book, set in a turbulent and violent time in American history.