Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule - (Jean Karl Books (Paperback)) by Harriette Gillem Robinet (Paperback)

About the Book

Like other ex-slaves, Pascal and his brother, Gideon, have been promised 40 acres and a mule. With the family of friends they have built along the way, they claim a place of their own. Green Gloryland is the most wonderful place, but the notorious night riders have plans to take the land away and threaten to destroy the young boys' newly acquired freedom. 1999 winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the 1999 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
A CBC Notable Children's Book in the Field of Social Studies

Two recently freed, formerly enslaved brothers work to protect the new life they've built during the Reconstruction after the Civil War in this vibrant, illustrated middle grade novel.

Maybe nobody gave freedom, and nobody could take it away like they could take away a family farm. Maybe freedom was something you claimed for yourself.

Like other ex-slaves, Pascal and his older brother Gideon have been promised forty acres and maybe a mule. With the found family they have built along the way, they claim a place of their own.

Green Gloryland is the most wonderful place on earth, their own farm with a healthy cotton crop and plenty to eat. But the notorious night riders have plans to take it away, threatening to tear the beautiful freedom that the two boys are enjoying for the first time in their young lives.

From the Back Cover

Maybe nobody gave freedom, and nobody could take it away like they could take away a family farm. Maybe freedom was something you claimed for yourself.

Like other ex-slaves, Pascal and his older brother Gideon have been promised forty acres and maybe a mule. With the family of friends they have built along the way, they claim a place of their own. Green Gloryland is the most wonderful place on earth, their own family farm with a healthy cotton crop and plenty to eat. But the notorious night riders have plans to take it away, threatening to tear the beautiful freedom that the two boys are enjoying for the first time in their young lives. Coming alive in plain, vibrant language is this story of the Reconstruction, after the Civil War.

Review Quotes

"A stirring story of self-determination".

-- School Library Journal

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.