Janie’s Freedom

Janie wondered what she should do now. Did she dare take this white girl back to her sleeping friends, especially when one of them was clearly sick? Then it occurred to Janie that maybe this Maydean was the answer to the praying she’d been doing all night. The redhead seemed an unlikely answer to prayer, so Janie prayed one more thing silently: Lord?

Book: Janie's Freedom: African Americans in the Aftermath of Civil War (Sisters in Time Book 14) by Callie Smith Grant, Barbour Publishers, 2006

Genre: Historical Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 9-15

Subjects: Salvation, slavery, friendship, family relationships growing up/coming of age

Summary: The day the white men come and take her mistress away is the day her life undergoes a truly radical change. Her freedom was declared earlier, but nothing changed. Now though, the mistress is gone, the former slaves are abandoned and the young ones are encouraged by the older ones to leave the plantation and seek out a new life in Chicago. So the Rudyhill Five set off on the long journey across the country in search of a place they can truly be free and actually make a living for themselves. It’s a dangerous journey and before long, winter sets in and the sickness comes. The only help offered comes from a source they dare not trust – but do they have a choice?

Notes: Janie’s Freedom is the fourteenth in the Sisters-In-Time series. This series features young girls living at various key points in American history, particularly around the wars. It always places the girls right at the edge of the teen years, coming of age.  The concept of the series it to not only show a glimpse of history, but to help young girls feel that the people back then weren’t that different than the people today.

Janie’s Freedom is set in 1867, at the end of the Civil War. Janie has been a slave all of her life, her parents being sold to various other plantations and most recently raised by an older slave woman. It’s a story of slaves trying to figure out how to live once their owners turn them loose. The spiritual elements are plentiful in this story. Janie has grown up in a culture where worshiping God is common. She hasn’t always understood what everything means but throughout the story as she gets more and more instruction in God’s Word and learns how to read it for herself, her understanding and personal faith grows. She was called Janie-Bird by the woman who cared for her who encouraged her to make a joyful noise to the Lord. As Janie faces trails she has to learn to keep singing her praise to God.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 100:1-2 – Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.