Phillis Wheatley: First Published African-American Poet

Children's Literature

Captured by slave hunters, Phillis was taken to an island in the West Indies. Due to her frail condition, she was sent on to Boston where she became a house servant for a family called Wheatley. Her enthusiasm for learning led Phillis to become well read, and she began to write poetry at the age of 13. By the time she was 19, she had enough poems for a book, but because she was a slave, no publisher believed she had written the poems. To settle the question of ownership, Phillis went before a panel of 18 men, one of whom was John Hancock, and was asked question after question about history and literature. Even though the panel was impressed enough to write an authenticity statement for her poems, Boston publishers still refused to publish them. It took a trip to Europe where a British publisher agreed to publish her book of thirty-nine poems. Phillis died in poverty at the young age of 31, yet her influence on literature and history are still strong today. This excellent account of the first African-American poet is part of the "Our People series," and is perfect for research work by students as well as informational reading. 2004, The Child's World, Ages 9 to 12.
— Kathie Josephs

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-Common to these titles are brief, but not particularly easy, texts with large, clear type in a cleanly designed format. Relevant facts are scattered throughout the wide margins along with a few full-page sidebars that provide related historical background. In addition, these books include addresses of places to visit or contact, and, in place of a Web site list of possibly dated URLs, the publisher provides a link to its own site that, presumably, will be updated in a timely manner. (This link also takes one to the publisher's online sales catalog.) The photos and reproductions that appear on every page are well chosen and clear. These slim titles also might be suitable for reluctant readers. One wonders, though, about the criteria for the brief glossaries when in Tubman, for example, the words "capture" and "courage" are included but "prophet" and "disguising" are not.-Sue Sherif, Alaska State Library, Anchorage Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.