The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave (an African American Heritage Book)
"I was born in Brackish-Pond, in Bermuda, on a farm belonging to Mr. Charles Myners.  My mother was a household slave; and my father, whose name was Prince, was a sawyer belonging to Mr. Trimmingham, a ship-builder at Crow-Lane."  In this brief straight-forward, and often poetic narrative, Mary Prince describes her life of labor as a household and field slave was made heavier by illness and pain brought on the abject cruelty of her "masters."  The text of this autobiography, the first by a female slave to be published, is prefaced and followed by letters written by British people attesting to the honor of her character and the truth of her testimony.  Mary's heartfelt and unselfpitying life story, often so wrenching she cannot bring herself to remember or describe the details, contrasts sharply with the polite words of her white protectors' proclamations about the truth of her words.  Moira Ferguson's excellent introduction and a critical afterword by Ziggi Alexander give a historical perspective to this lucid and powerful life-story.-- For great reviews of books for girls, check outLet's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --From500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.