Book Review: Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge by Ray Anthony Shepard

Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge

by Ray Anthony Shepard (j Biography Judge)

 

Runaway by Ray Anthony Shepard is the story of Ona Judge, an African American woman who was enslaved to President George Washington, the most powerful man in the United States, and his wife Martha. Although Ona resides in a house where history is being made, the founding of American freedom, it is a freedom that didn’t include her.

 

Told in poetic form, the book depicts Ona’s life from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia and successful escape from the Washington’s in 1796.

 

Although it is considered a biography, each paragraph or page ends with a rhetorical question, such as “Why you run Ona Judge?” The author says he choose this style because people have questioned why Ona, or Oney as she was called by the Washington’s, would want to leave a life of luxury. Ona visited the best houses, rode in a first-class carriage, and had her own room. She was not required to work in the fields or perform hard labor. However, the verses and pictures depict that in spite of the extravagance she was exposed to, she was taken from her family and moved to Philadelphia without her consent–ultimately viewed as a “pet,” a “darling” slave that was handed down from one generation to the next. Her life was not her own. The author notes “during slavery—and even now—people questioned why an enslaved person in such a fine home would want to leave. But slavery is slavery, whether it takes place in a field or the President’s House.”

 

We learn that Ona runs and is hidden away until a white sea captain ferries her to New Hampshire. There she has a new life where she will not be enslaved, but will always live as a fugitive. Eventually we learn that Ona marries and has three children.

 

Runaway is the first picture book by former Nebraskan Ray Anthony Shepard, a historian and former educator. So not only is it available from Lincoln City Library, it is also kept in the Nebraska Heritage room at Bennett Martin Public Library. I found it to be an excellent picture book with beautiful illustrations by Keith Mallett that tells a hard truth about the founding of our country.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, or Eyes That Kiss in the Corner by Joanna Ho.]

[ Runaway page on the official Ray Anthony Shepard web site ]

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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