Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth

Born in 1797, and sold three times by the time she was 13 (and beaten many more times), a tall young slave girl named Isabella grew in her determination to fight the evils of slavery and speak for human rights. At the age of 46, having been a free woman for 17 years, Isabella woke from a dream telling her she must travel the country, conveying to people what it meant to be a slave. On that day, Isabella renamed herself.

"It was as though the life she'd known up till then belonged to someone else. A new one was beginning. The old life had become a tale to tell, a story to bring freedom to others. Her old name belonged to her old life. From that day on, she was never called Isabella again. Her name was Sojourner Truth."

Anne Rockwell's picture-book biography of the legendary and powerful messenger of civil rights rings with authority and dignity, matched by Gregory Christie's full-page impressionistic paintings featuring Truth's symbolically outsized head and hands, and striking perspectives of both slaves and slave owners. Awash with rich color, Christie's images will linger long with readers, as will Rockwell's description of Sojourner Truth singing in the face of enraged, drunken antiabolitionists. The author includes a historical note and a 19th century timeline for further context. Rockwell is the noted author of more than 100 books for children, and Christie was the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor for his illustrations in The Palm of My Heart. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Reviewed in Bookselling Kids' Pick of the Lists Part Two for October 2000.

"The facts in this picture-book biography speak as eloquently as its illustrations, which have an authority and passion recalling Jacob Lawrence's Harriet and the Promised Land."—The Horn Book, Starred Review

"The look and feel of a children’s classic . . . a valuable addition to any child’s library.”
-- The New York Times

“Rockwell’s vibrant storytelling, powerful content and moving author’s note will likely send readers off to further reading about this extraordinary heroine.”
-- Publishers Weekly, Starred

"It's a powerful story, well told and handsomely set; worth of its courageous subject." -- The Horn Book Magazine, Starred
From the Trade Paperback edition.