A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet

This well produced picture book is divided into short chapters. In some places the text is superimposed on ochre which works well for a story with an historical setting. It is the true story of a young girl taken into slavery in 1761. The first chapter shows Phillis as a young girl on board a slave ship sitting next to shackled adult males. The fear amid total misery is evident. The colours are sombre as is the text. I think Phillis’ voice needed to be heard at this point in this story.

Phillis is fortunate to be chosen by a kind white woman who treats her well and who recognises her intelliegence. Phillis is given support and after being in America ‘a mere sixteen months’ she learns to speak English, read the bible and understand it. She then moves on to Latin, Greek, geography and mathematics. This seemed somewhat overstated. Phillis also begins to write poetry.

Her mistress takes her to perform her poetry in front of her friends and an incident in which she arrives at the house of the man who kidnapped her from Africa makes it clear that Phillis should have been given a voice – it would have made the story more powerful. The connection between an America enslaved by England is interesting but dismissed without much explanation. At last we hear Phillis’ voice through her poetry.

This true story of an 18th-century black poet has to be welcomed. The illustrations are excellent. This book can be used for Black History Month in the primary classroom, but should be handled with care.