Phillis Wheatley (Let Freedom Ring: American Revolution Biographies)

From School Library Journal Grade 4-6 Slim series titles on individuals who lived during the American Revolution. Ross describes the patriot's early life, her upholstery business, and details of the period pertinent to her story. Duden notes that it was her grandson who made her "story public," telling how George Washington asked Ross to sew the first flag in 1776. The book states clearly that there was no way to check his story as he told it in 1870, nearly 100 years later. Wheatley relates what is known of the poet's early life, her education, her marriage, and death at age 31. Excerpts of her poetry are provided as is information about the time period in which she lived. Both texts include sidebars and are illustrated with captioned, full-color and black-and-white photographs of sites and artifacts and reproductions of documents. Each book contains a two-page time line, a simple map, lists of additional sources, Web sites, and places to write to or visit. -Karen Land, Greenport Public School, NY Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.