Hang A Thousand Trees With Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley

By Ann Rinaldi



I don't always like Ann Rinaldi's books, but I loved this one. Okay, it wasn't perfect. The sentences are annoyingly short and choppy in parts. But, on the positive side, this book really makes Phillis come alive, beyond the history books and scholarly studies. I must say that Rinaldi is good with mixing fact with imagination, and making her characters real. In case you were wondering, Phillis Wheatley was not only America's first female poet, she was also America's first African American poet, who lived in the eighteenth century.
Hang A Thousand Trees With Ribbons is a novel written in first-person from Phillis's point of view, and starts in the year 1761. Phillis describes how her father and uncle who, even though they were brothers, hated each other, as they were chieftains of two neighbor-tribes in Senegal, and could not agree. At the age of seven, Phillis, or Keziah as she was known in Africa, her mother and her friend Obour are captured by a band of Phillis's uncle's warriors and sold to slave traders for cowrie shells. In vidid detail, we learn of the horrors of Phillis's journey across the Atlantic Ocean, during which her mother dies and she herself barely lives through.
When she arrives in America, (Boston, to be specific) she is purchased by a well-to-do merchant named John Wheatley, and Obour is sold to a friend of Wheatley's. Mr. Wheatley decides to name his new servant Phillis, after the ship she came on. His son, Nathaniel, takes it upon himself to educate Phillis, teaching her how to read, write, speak Latin, among other things.
But because Phillis is black, and Nathaniel doesn't want to hurt his reputation as a beginning merchant by promoting a "nigra", he keeps Phillis tethered, and doesn't give her any opportunities to use her knowledge or show it off. So Phillis turns inside herself, writing down her thoughts and eventually writing her first poem.
The Wheatleys are amazed at Phillis's first poem, and Mrs. Wheatley has her read for and visit important people in Boston in an attempt to get that poem, and future poems of Phillis's, published.
Meanwhile, Phillis falls in love with Nathaniel, but doesn't dare admit it. An older servant in the Wheatley household, Aunt Cumsee by name, warns Phillis that Nathaniel, as well as all the Wheatley's, only regard Phillis as a "plaything", as something to show off to friends and acquaintances, and that her affections for Nathaniel will only come to grief. Obour, with whom Phillis keeps in touch, warns of the same things.
Unsuccessful at finding someone in Boston willing to publish a black woman's poetry, the Wheatleys decide to send Phillis to London with Nathaniel, who has business to attend to there. The Wheatleys are confident that the English will receive Phillis and publish her poetry. While all this is going on, tensions between England and America are heating up.

I can't say anymore, or I'll ruin the book. But I will say this: I highly recommend this novel. Whether you're familiar with Phillis or have never heard of her until now, you'll thoroughly enjoy the story.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A biography

By William Anderson



A few years ago, I read all the "Little House" books. I enjoyed them thoroughly. Just recently, I thought it would be interesting to read a biography about Laura, main character in the "Little House" books. I went online to look up the subject on the library catalog, and from all the titles that came up, I selected this one. I was amazed at the wealth of information it contained on the book character I loved so much. William Anderson really did a good job researching the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was fascinated by the pictures of Laura and her family included in the book, as well as quotes and first-hand accounts from Laura herself. I was engrossed as I followed Laura's life from a little girl to a successful author. I think that Laura contributed a lot to her society and the world.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls in a log cabin deep in the woods of Wisconsin to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. Laura spent her childhood with her parents and sisters, moving from Wisconsin to Kansas to Minnesota to Iowa and finally settling in South Dakota when she was twelve.


Laura was a keen observer, hard-worker, avid student, and a bit of a tomboy. From the age of eleven, she was trusted by neighbors to do chores, watch children, and even help care for someone's sick relative who lived far from where Laura lived with her family. Laura learned to read and write and in her teens was the top student in her school. When her sister Mary became blind, Laura longed to earn money to help send her to a college for the blind. Laura started teaching school before she was sixteen to earn the necessary money and to keep her mother's family tradition. However, when she was eighteen, she married Almanzo Wilder, putting an end to her teaching career, as only unmarried women could teach school.


The Wilders started a farm on the Dakota prairie. Their daughter Rose was born a year later, and their son three years after that. Unfortunately, their son did not live.

When farming in South Dakota prove fruitless for the Wilders, they moved to Mansfield, Missouri, where they purchased a lonely, abandoned farm in the Ozarks. They named it Rocky Ridge Farm, because of the rocky land. The Wilders settled in, planting crops and raising animals.

Rocky Ridge Farm was a great success. Laura and Almanzo won the respect of the neighbors because of their bountiful harvest.

Laura was especially known for her hens that layed eggs even in the winter time when no other hens would. She began writing articles about her country life for the local newspaper. People loved her writing.

When Laura was in her sixties, she began writing the story of her childhood. At first, no publisher would accept her first manuscript, though they all loved the story. Finally, in 1932, Harper & Brothers published the book under the title "Little House in the Big Woods". The book immediately became popular, beloved by children and their parents. Soon letters came to Laura asking for more books, which she wrote and published. By the time Laura died at the age of ninety in 1957, she had gained international attention. She was famous throughout America as well.

The amazing thing about Laura is that she outlived her parents, all three sisters, and her husband. Her long life enabled her to see many changes, including the invention of the telephone, TV, and car. She saw both World Wars, the Great Depression, and other historic events of the 19th and 20th centuries. She died a few years before the first man landed on the moon. I'm fascinated by Laura's detailed, colorful life and inspired by her positive attitude towards work. As an aspiring writer, I like hearing about how famous writers have done what they did.

The "Little House" books continue to inspire, educate, and entertain each new generation. Through her books, Laura's memory lives on.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5.