Children’s Book Review: *Seven Miles to Freedom* by Janet Halfmann

• Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story by Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Duane Smith
• Interest level:  Grades 1-6
• Reading level:  Grades 4 and above
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Lee & Low Books (April 30, 2008)
• ISBN-13: 978-1600602320

Back-of-the-book blurb: Growing up a slave in South Carolina, Robert Smalls had always dreamed of the moment freedom would be within his grasp.  Now it was here, and all the lives aboard the Planter were in Robert’s hands.  With precision and daring, he would have to navigate past the forts ahead and steer the ship to the safety of the Union fleet.  Just one miscalculation could be deadly, but for Robert and the others it was a risk worth taking.

Robert Smalls stood at the Planter’s wheel.  Only seven miles of water lay between the ship and the Union blockade.  For Robert, his family, and his crewmates, reaching the blockade would mean a chance at freedom.

Seven Miles to Freedom is a compelling account of the daring escape of Robert Smalls, a slave steamboat wheelman who would become one of the Civil War’s greatest heroes.  His steadfast courage in the face of adversity serves a model for all who must overcome the seemingly insurmountable.

She is Too Fond of Books‘ review: Engaging, intelligent text coupled with bold illustrations make Seven Miles to Freedom a must-have for the home, school, or public library.

Janet Halfmann describes Robert Smalls’ life from his youngest days as the master’s favorite on a plantation in Beaufort, South Carolina in the 1840s.  She tells of his relative rise from a favored house-slave to a hotel waiter in Charleston (though all his wages were passed directly to Master McKee, his owner!), using words and phrases that will interest a young reader  – “cluster of plantation islands,” “brushed [his] horse, carried his hunting bow, and baited his fishing hook”.

Smalls married and had a child, working out an agreement to buy his family’s freedom from Master McKee; the price was $800.  He and his wife worked day and night trying to save the money; Smalls navigated the waterways as a “wheelman,” his wife was a seamstress.  The Smalls were very close to their goal when the Civil War broke out in 1861.

Halfmann builds the tension as she tells of the many steps involved in their escape to freedom.  Robert Smalls orchestrated a multi-faceted plan over several months.  Through courage, determination, intelligence, and careful planning, he was responsible for the entire crew of the Planter, as well as their families, getting safely to Northern waters with a white flag of surrender on the mast:

The white sheet was lowered.  As the Planter‘s crew and their families gazed up, the Union flag rose skyward.  Robert and Hannah held their children close, their hearts full of hope.  On this morning of a new day, they were on their way to freedom.

A few notes about Halfmann’s manner of addressing Smalls:  Throughout the book, the hero is referred to by his first name, Robert, making him approachable; this familiarity doesn’t diminish the huge accomplishments of Robert Smalls.  She uses the term “colored” to describe him, which is how he would have referred to himself.  It’s important for our children to know that acceptable descriptions of people’s appearance have changed over the years.  Just as I would balk when my grandfather would refer to “a colored man”, my children have caught me using the non-PC “a Black man.”  Where I used to check the box labelled “White” on a form, that has given way to “Caucasian.”  Vocabulary and forms of address change over time; “colored” is appropriate in Seven Miles to Freedom because of the time in which it is set:

Robert liked talking to the workers on the ships.  In hushed voices they told him stories about “Up North,” where all colored people were free to learn to read and write.  Free to keep the money they earned.  Free to make their own decisions.  Robert’s eyes lit up with hope.  Someday he would have those freedoms too.

An excellent Afterword tells of Smalls’ life after he sailed into Union territory; note that Halfmann uses the current term “African American” in the Afterword.  He met with Lincoln; he was named the first African American captain of a US ship; he learned to read and write; incredibly, he purchased the McKee house, where he had been enslaved as a boy; he helped write the South Carolina constitution in 1868; and in 1875 he was elected to the US Congress!  A list of Author’s Sources allows advanced readers to perhaps read other material about Robert Small.

The book is illustrated by Duane Smith, an artist, illustrator, and graphic designer in New York.  The bold oil paintings cover at least one full page of each double-page spread.  The angles and coloring (mostly in rough shades of blue and brown) remind me of woodcuts.  The cover picture at the top of this review is a great example of the vivid style – and I love the size of Smalls in the background, rising up like a formidable mountain.

Janet Halfmann is the author of several fiction and non-fiction children’s picture books, as well as non-fiction books for older readers.  My review of Little Skink’s Tail (ages 4-8) is here.  More information about Janet Halfmann can be found at her website.

I’ll end this review the way I began:  Engaging, intelligent text coupled with bold illustrations make Seven Miles to Freedom a must-have for the home, school, or public library.