A picture of freedom / McKissack, Pat

In 1859 twelve-year-old Clotee, a house slave who must conceal the fact that she can read and write, records in her diary her experiences and her struggle to decide whether to escape to freedom.

In 1859, twelve-year-old Clotee, a house slave who must conceal the fact that she can read and write, records in her diary her experiences and her struggle to decide whether to escape to freedom.

Clotee, a twelve-year-old slave on a Virginia plantation in 1859, teaches herself to read and write while fanning the master's son during his daily lessons, and determines to use her secret knowledge to help herself and her friends reach freedom.