This book includes a forward from Freddi Williams Evans (), a historian and Congo Square expert, as well as a glossary of terms with pronunciations and definitions. This story chronicles slaves' duties each day, from chopping logs on Mondays to baking bread on Wednesdays to plucking hens on Saturday, and builds to the freedom of Sundays and the special experience of an afternoon spent in Congo Square. They were free to forget their cares, their struggles, and their oppression. Here they were free to set up an open market, sing, dance, and play music. This poetic, nonfiction story about a little-known piece of African American history captures a human's capacity to find hope and joy in difficult circumstances and demonstrates how New Orleans' Congo Square was truly freedom's heart.Īs slaves relentlessly toiled in an unjust system in 19th century Louisiana, they all counted down the days until Sunday, when at least for half a day they were briefly able to congregate in Congo Square in New Orleans. Starred reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and The Horn Book Magazine Winner of a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator HonorĪ School Library Journal Best Book of 2016: Nonfiction
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