Most Loved in All the World
Grade 3–6—A slave mother creates a quilt to guide and comfort her young daughter, whom she is sending to freedom along the Underground Railroad. In a straightforward, heartfelt story written in dialect, Hegamin shows that a woman can love her child dearly yet still give her up, in the youngster's best interest. An author's note explains that debates over the authenticity of quilts used as maps continue; Hegamin states that she used the quilt as a symbol and story device. The artwork matches the tone of the story well, featuring dark images interspersed with quilted blocks that bring brightness to the primitive-style paintings. Patchwork endpapers that incorporate recognizable quilt blocks add to the homespun feel of the story. Paired with Deborah Hopkinson'sSweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt(Knopf, 2003), this book would be a useful discussion point for supplementing Underground Railroad units.—Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, CanadaCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.