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Book Cover for: Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself, Monica Edinger

Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself

Monica Edinger

Paperback
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Finalist:Yalsa Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults -Young Adult Nonfiction (2024)

"Permit me to lay at your feet

the following genuine

Narrative . . ."

Olaudah Equiano was a writer and abolitionist whose autobiography, The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, captured the attention of British readers at the height of the transatlantic slave trade. The account of his childhood in the African kingdom of Benin, the details of his kidnapping and enslavement as a young boy, and the chronicles of his life as a sailor were influential in ending the British slave trade and continue to inspire the work of academics, activists, and artists over two hundred years later.

Nearer My Freedom retells Equiano's remarkable life story in found verse, shaping his own words into impassioned, striking poetry, allowing readers to discover it anew. Supplemented with detailed and illuminating annotations, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge offer a new means to engage with one of the most famous texts of the abolition movement.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Zest Books (Tm)
  • Publish Date: Mar 7th, 2023
  • Pages: 216
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.25in - 5.50in - 0.45in - 0.57lb
  • EAN: 9781728464077
  • Recommended age: 10-18
  • Categories: • Biography & Autobiography - Historical• African American & Black• Poetry

About the Author

Edinger, Monica: - Monica Edinger is a retired classroom teacher and the author of the children's book Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad (Candlewick 2013), which won the 2014 Children's Africana Book Award and Nearer My Freedom (co-written with Lesley Younge) which was a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist. Monica is a children's book world influencer with a large following on her blog, educating alice. She has contributed reviews and articles for the Horn Magazine and The New York Times, served on several award committees, and published numerous books and articles for educators. She is based in New York.
Younge, Lesley: - Lesley Younge is a writer, mother, and educator currently teaching middle school English and math in Washington D.C. Originally from Southern California, she graduated from New York University and Bank Street College of Education. Lesley has developed curriculum with a wide range of organizations such as the Central Park Conservancy, the Museum of Art and Design, the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project, the Zinn Education Project, and the National Museum of Asian Art. Now she is the author of two books for young people, Nearer My Freedom and A-Train Allen. A fellow of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and Anaphora Literary Arts, Lesley blogs regularly at teacherlesley.com.

Praise for this book

"This moving found-verse adaptation of the formerly enslaved Equiano's 1789 memoir makes a seminal work of history accessible to young readers."--New York Times Book Review

-- (3/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge--former fourth grade co-teachers--brilliantly transform the autobiography into 'found poems' by cutting and rearranging Equiano's original into verse . . . Their deft transformation of Equiano's odyssey is well-equipped to inspire and empower new generations."--starred, Shelf Awareness

-- (3/9/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"In this unique work of nonfiction, Edinger and Younge transform the words of Olaudah Equiano's 1789 autobiographical slavery narrative into found-verse poetry. . . . [An] absorbing, singular creation."--starred, Booklist

-- (2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Without losing the source text's emotional heft, Edinger and Younge's visceral poems respectfully provide an effective entry point into the seminal work."--starred, Publishers Weekly

-- (1/30/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Highly readable as well as informative. An excellent way to understand a remarkable individual and his times."--starred, Kirkus Reviews

-- (12/15/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"[T]he story makes for compelling reading that moves quickly. . . . This important and unique work introduces this pivotal man to a new audience and will make for interesting classroom discussions."--starred, School Library Journal

-- (4/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"This flawless and well-composed performance is an invaluable addition to youth collections, giving listeners the important story of a truly remarkable man."--starred, Booklist, audio book published by Listening Library

-- (10/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)