Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge

by Ray Anthony Shepard, Keith Mallett (Illustrator)

Overview

A powerful poem about Ona Judge's life and her self-emancipation from George Washington’s household.

Ona Judge was enslaved by the Washingtons, and served the President's wife, Martha. Ona was widely known for her excellent skills as a seamstress, and was raised alongside Washington’s grandchildren. Indeed, she was frequently mistaken for his granddaughter. This poetic biography follows her childhood and adolescence until she decides to run away.

Author Ray Anthony Shepard welcomes meaningful and necessary conversation among young readers about the horrors of slavery and the experience of house servants through call-and-response style lines. Illustrator Keith Mallett’s rich paintings include fabric collage and add further feeling and majesty to Ona’s daring escape.

With extensive backmatter, this poem may serve as a new introduction to American slavery and Ona Judge's legacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374307042
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	01/05/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	422,178
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Ray Anthony Shepard is a former teacher and retired editor-in-chief of a major education publishing company. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Education and the Harvard Graduate School Education where he received a Martin Luther King Jr. Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. His other books for children include Now or Never!: 54th Massachusetts Infantry's War to End Slavery.

Keith Mallett was born in Pennsylvania and received his formal art training at the Art Students League, and Hunter College in New York City. He has worked as a freelance artist for fifteen years and was the in-house artist for Frontline Art Publishers. He also illustrated How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz (Jonah Winter). Keith's work is currently published by Canadian Art Prints, one of the largest fine art publishers in the world.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/07/2020

In a stunning picture book debut, historian Shepard pens a free verse poem addressing Ona Judge, a young Black woman who emancipated herself from George and Martha Washing-ton’s ownership. Born to an enslaved Black seamstress and a white indentured servant, Ona grew up conscripted as a playmate for the Washingtons’ grandchildren until she was taken from her mother at age 16 and made a personal servant to Martha Washington. Employing the refrain “Why you run Ona Judge?” Shepard crafts impactful metaphors (“You were his money walking out the door”) and incisive questions, exposing the fallacy of Ona’s “good” treatment by conveying the inherent dehumanization that she and other enslaved people experienced. Tonal paintings by Mallett incorporate fabric collage, lending a sense of both immediacy and historicity. An evocative portrait that keenly interrogates the structures upon which America is built. Back matter includes an author’s note, timeline, bibliography, acknowledgments, and list of places to visit. Ages 3–6. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor Book

A Bank Street Best Book of the Year

An ALSC Notable Book

A NCSS Notable Book

"With a distinctive, haunting voice, powerful images, and thought-provoking story structure, this unique look at a remarkable young woman’s life choices and decisions offers an utterly necessary but seldom highlighted perspective on the contradictions within our society’s foundations. A powerful antidote to whitewashed cultural mythology." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A stunning picture book debut . . . an evocative portrait that keenly interrogates the structures upon which America is built." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A fine addition to all collections." —Booklist

"This is a moving complement to Dunbar’s Never Caught (BCCB 1/19) as well as a potent exemplar of scathing historical critique." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)

From the Publisher

★ 2020-11-18
The true story of a young enslaved woman who escapes the family of George Washington.

“Ona Judge, Ona Judge / Why you run away / Ona Judge?” So begins this inquiry into her quest for freedom; the question is repeated throughout the narrative. “You had fine dresses [and] soft shoes” and other material benefits most enslaved people lacked. Ona is passed around the Washington family, first a playmate for the children, then a personal servant and seamstress for Martha Washington, never working in the fields. But when an aging Martha gives Ona to her granddaughter Eliza, “now a mean and sassy woman,” Ona walks out into the Philadelphia night. Here, the tenor of the text changes—“Didn’t you know you broke the law?”—and the illustrations become dark as she makes her way around corners and hides in a basement. A framed picture—a departure from the full-bleed pages and spreads that depicts the current action—gives a glimpse of her future family life: “You dreamed a dream / You would make true.” As she reaches a boat, and freedom, day breaks and readers see the first hint of Ona’s smile. “Then run, Ona Judge, run.” With a distinctive, haunting voice, powerful images, and thought-provoking story structure, this unique look at a remarkable young woman’s life choices and decisions offers an utterly necessary but seldom highlighted perspective on the contradictions within our society’s foundations. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 42.1% of actual size.)

A powerful antidote to whitewashed cultural mythology. (author’s note, timeline, bibliography, places to visit) (Informational picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews