Bibliography: Schroeder, Alan. 1996. Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman. Ill. by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803718896Plot Summary: This is the story of young Araminta whose nickname was "Minty". (Araminta was the "cradle" name of Harriet Tubman.) Minty was not a very good house slave, so she was sent to work in the fields when she was very young. Minty started thinking of running away after her mistress, Mrs. Brody, threw her favorite rag doll into the fire. Her mother tried to discourage her from having these thoughts, but her father taught her things she would need to know in order to be successful. He taught her how to read the stars, catch fish, swim, and run through the forest without making a sound. One night, after being severely beaten for letting muskrats free from their traps, Minty has the perfect opportunity for escape. Will she do it? Is this her shot at freedom?
Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers):
Alan Schroeder tells an inspiring story of a young Harriet Tubman. He opens the story with a message to the readers explaining that while some of the scenes were invented for narrative purposes, the basic facts of the story are true.
The setting of the story is on a plantation in the 1820s. There is a grand house where Mr. and Mrs. Brodas live, and then there is the small living quarters for Minty and her brothers and sisters and mother and father lived. They slept on the straw floor with a few blankets to keep them warm. Some nights Minty had to stick her feet in the ashes at the edge of the pit just to stay warm. Minty is seen wearing the same dull dress throughout the story. After she gets sent to work in the fields she starts wearing a red bandanna on her head to keep "from frying her brains out".
The African American culture is defined through the illustrations and language in the story. Some of the language includes “you know what my daddy done tol’ me?” “tell your mama to make you a bandanna, or, girl, you gonna fry your brains out” and “go up to the big house and ask Missus for some sugar”. Pinkney’s illustrations are extremely lifelike. You can see the anger in Mrs. Brodas’ face when Minty spills the cider, the sorrow in Minty’s face after losing her doll, and the utter hopelessness of her parent’s as they try to comfort her after she’s been beaten. In Pinkney’s opening words he explains how he did extensive research to uncover “the style of plantations” as well as “details regarding backgrounds, dress, food, and living conditions of the enslaved as well as the slave owners”.
Harriet Tubman did not escape from the Brodas plantation until 1849, when she was around twenty-nine years old. This book was so engaging I wish it would have told her story all the way up to this point in her life.
Review Excerpt(s):
From Publishers Weekly
This fictionalized account of Tubman's childhood on a Maryland plantation provides a cruel snapshot of life as a slave and the horrid circumstances that fueled the future Underground Railroad leader's passion and determination. At eight years old, Minty (so-called as a nickname for Araminta) boils with rebellion against her brutal owners and bucks their authority whenever possible. Deeming her too clumsy for housework, Mrs. Brodas banishes Minty to harder work in the fields. Toiling in the hot sun only intensifies Minty's desire to run away to freedom, and soon her father teaches her how to survive in the wild, so that she'll be prepared to make her break one day. Schroeder's (Ragtime Tumpie; Carolina Shout!) choice of lively vignettes rather than a more traditional biography is a wise one. With color and feeling he humanizes a historic figure, coaxing readers to imagine or research the rest of the story. Pinkney's (John Henry) full-bodied watercolors evoke a strong sense of time and place. Laudably, Pinkney's scenes consistently depict young Minty's point of view, giving the harshness of her reality more resonance for readers. A formal author's note follows the text and both Schroeder and Pinkney have included personal messages about the history of the book project. A firm stepping stone toward discussions of slavery and U.S. history. Ages 5-9.
From Booklist
Set on the Maryland plantation where Harriet Tubman ("Minty" ) was raised a slave, this fictionalized story dramatizes what daily life was like for her as a child. Schroeder's words are clear and strong. There's no gracious big house here, no happy slave. The angry Missus sends the "difficult" slave child Minty to work in the fields. When the overseer orders her to check the muskrat traps, she sets the animals free and is whipped for it. Pinkney's realistic portraits are powerful, and, as in John Henry (1994), the dappled double-page landscapes connect the strong child hero with the might of the natural world. Her mother tells her to "pat the lion," but her father knows she means to run away, and several idyllic paintings show him teaching her to read the night sky and swim in the river and survive in the woods. The blend of fact and fiction is occasionally problematic (was she really planning escape at eight years old, or was that age chosen to suit the picture-book audience?), but kids will be moved by the picture of secret childhood rebellion in someone who grew up to lead hundreds to freedom. Hazel Rochman
Connections:
Discussion Questions and Activities:
*Minty loved and valued her rag doll, Esther. Do you have something you value as much as Minty did? How would you feel if someone else destroyed it?
*Explain the saying 'If your head is in the lion's mouth, it's best to pat him a little' in your own words.
*Why do you think Minty's mother did not want her to run away, yet her father taught her what she needed to know in order to have a chance?
*Use three adjectives to describe how Minty felt when she first saw the horse and three different adjectives when she first heard the voices. Explain your choices.
Other books about Harriet Tubman:
A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman by David A. Adler. ISBN 9780823409266
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (Caldecott Honor Book) by Carole Boston Weatherford. ISBN 9780786851751
Go Free or Die: A Story About Harriet Tubman by Jeri Ferris. ISBN 9780876145043
Other books by Alan Schroeder:
Ragtime Tumpie- a fictional story about Josephine Baker. ISBN 9780316775045
Satchmo's Blues- a storybook biography of Louis Armstrong. ISBN 9780440414728
Carolina Shout- a picture book about Charleston Street Vendors. ISBN 9780803716766
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