My Name is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom is a fictional first-person account of historic figure, Penda Wame, renamed by her enslavers. Wame, a Senegalese child learning to become a griot (poet and storyteller in oral tradition), is stolen from her village and placed on a slave ship where most of her fellow villagers die on the harrowing journey. When the ship lands in Boston, she is enslaved by a merchant family that educates her (though not any of the other enslaved peoples). She is exceptionally bright, and absorbs lessons in English, Ancient Greek, rhetoric, etc. They discover her talent as a poet and publish her work. She gains renown and fame even as some discredit her, in the belief that an enslaved person could not create the poetry she writes. This obstacle does not prevent her from writing poetry that brings her international recognition and an audience with the queen of England.

In a time when some states’ curriculum standards state that Blacks “benefited” from slavery, we are reminded of all that Phillis (Penda) lost and what was taken from her as a person and as an artist. The writing is compelling and Phillis is a powerful character. This book would have benefitted from a timeline, as well as an author’s note explaining where she gathered her facts for this book.

Recommended for library collections looking for middle-grade appropriate historical fiction to discuss the reality of enslavement in American history.

Deanna Contrino, SLMS/MLIS
Young School Library, Saco ME