IT'S PRESIDENT'S DAY: Celebrate with REVOLUTIONARY FRIENDS

What better day than PRESIDENTS' DAY to turn the spotlight on a nonfiction picture book, REVOLUTIONARY FRIENDS: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, written by Selene Castrovilla and illustrated by Drazen Kozjan.

CALKINS CREEK, 2013

 This is a distinctly appealing account of the Washington/Lafayette relationship we've all heard about, if only in HAMILTON. This nonfiction picture book has a deeply touching heart. Lafyette is often portrayed as a young, flamboyant, even cavalier Frenchman (of minor royalty) whose attention to the American Revolutionary War seems more youthful bravado than commitment to a cause.

At least that's the way I have viewed him. In this case, we see Lafayette and Washington in the full relationship that arose between them, that of a mentor/father/son with and deep true affection. Washington's national stature was the earned success of a non-nobleman, a general, then a president. He was a generation older, stood a head taller, and exuded the solemnity and stability that counterbalanced the zeal and exuberance of young Layfayette. 

This account makes clear that Lafayette's idealism was deep-seated and spanned the Atlantic to embrace both continents. He viewed himself as fully French and yet devoted himself and risked his life (repeatedly) to support the cause of the rebellious colonies.

I'm a fan of the text, including the brief and well-chosen inserts from Lafayettte's own writing. The illustrations range from formal introductions and settings to tense moments of war and treatment of threatening injuries. While revealing the formality of a bygone time and military roles, portrays of their contacts, expressions, and postures reinforced their mutual respect thoroughly. 

The back matter provides the remaining stories that readers (at least this one) longed to discover, as well as life-line timelines for each. It's a worthy addition to what seems a well-worn era, and one that humanizes the costs to emotions and personal commitments to a high-minded cause- Democracy.

This is firm reminder of the force of big ideas, adherence to principles, and dedicated friendships. It would be accessible for younger readers but is especially valuable for use with older readers in integration with social studies and history. The material opens discussions about where borders and b outcries lie in relation to deep-seated principles. It also presents a wealth of enlivened scenes for considering the relaunching of democracy in a modern (at the time) society that had for centuries been configured on monarchies, power, and wealth. Highly recommended.

Seeking Freedom: Do NOT Miss Reading This Important Nonfiction Account

 When it comes to CIVIL WAR names and heroes, do you know this one… GEORGE SCOTT? 

Astra Books for Young Readers
Calkins Creek, 2022

I’m guessing you don’t.  I certainly didn’t. 

What’s more, the story surrounding Scott's contributions to ending slavery were unknown to me, and to many others. 

SEEKING FREEDOM: The Untold Story of Fortress Monroe and the Ending of Slavery in America is written by Selena Castrovilla and illustrated by the incomparable artist E. B. Lewis. The rich details, character, and intensity of the text are enhanced and expanded by those same qualities in the illustrations. Every dramatic element is made more so by such detail, from the lichen on the barks of trees to the opening note about when and why certain word choices were made, to revelations of personality and character, especially in George Scott and the other central player, little-known hero, Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler, commander of Fortress Monroe in Virginia. I can't begin to imagine the extent of research that preceded the writing and illustrating of this remarkable picture book. 

I won’t include spoilers in these comments, which limits the scope of what I can share. 

This much, though, is essential to understand. GEORGE SCOTT was, in the language of the time,  a “runaway slave” (actually a freedom-seeking enslaved man). He had spent two years in a wild-wooded area not far from the fort, surviving by intelligence, cunning, and sheer determination as states seceded and war with the North began. His encounter with General Butler takes place in the early pages of this book when he risked exposure and return to his “master” by entering the fort to offer to work in support of the North. 

Both men took remarkable risks in pursuing this course of resistance to the established law that said enslaved people were the property of their owners and were required to be returned to them. Butler chose to defy this process by calling freedom-seeking refugees from slavery “contraband”, using that legal “property” label to justify retaining them as living spoils of wartime, which could supersede the Fugitive Slave Act. He was depriving the rebels of a valuable war-making resource.

Could that tactic actually work? Would it destroy Butler’s career, returning the many desperate freedom-seekers to enslavement? Or would it challenge the institution of slavery and begin a process to settle that question once and for all? 

The historic account that provides answers to those questions, and more, is revealed with dramatic art and suspenseful storytelling. Scenes involve President Lincoln, Congressional action, spying, a near-death escape, as well as post-war developments. Be sure to read the impressive back matter that further explores the post-war lives of these two heroic men, as well as the political decisions affecting both of their lives, and more. Sources for research and quotations are provided with acknowledgements of the historic sites and their curators, without whose involvement this book could not have been completed.

The most essential questions and causes of our deadly CIVIL WAR are launched and confronted within these pages and I am still shaking my head in wonder that I had not heard this account before. I believe you will do the same. After you read it, and I urge you to do so, soon, I feel certain you will be recommending it far and wide, across many ages and interests. 

And I doubt you'll ever forget George Scott and his role in ending slavery in America.