Taking Liberty

By: Ann Rinaldi

The book Taking Liberty by Ann Rinaldi is about an eight year old girl named Oney Judge whose life long dream was to work for Lady Washington. The theme would be “If you want something bad enough go for it”. She lived out near the Washington's with her mama, her aunt Myrtilla and Charlotte, there are also more slaves that live in that small house to. She also liked trying to help out in the kitchen with the cook. She also liked to try to read when she got a chance because black kids weren't allowed to go to school with the white kids. She went to school with the poor white kids and the black kids that could afford it. Oney was one of the children that were able to go to Mrs. Washington’s and she read them a piece out of the bible.

Every Sunday morning her mama was able to go up to a small town and have a little store it was a place where slaves were able to go to. Her mama made aprons out of scraps and made her own brooms to sell. This time when they got there though there was a dress another women had that Oney's mother wanted so she took brooms and got the dress but what she didn't know is that the dress was already stolen then when soldiers found out they came to give her mama a licking. After a while her mother just stopped talking to her it was about a year maybe two. Anytime Oney went to talk to her mother her mother just started slapping her.

A couple days after that happened some British men came over while Mr. Washington and Mrs. Washington were away and asked any slave that if they want to be free then they should go over to America with them. Only six or seven people went including Oneys mother. After that happened Oney was really upset until Mrs. Washington told her that she needed a new maid because her maid was going to die because she was about seventy eight years old. She went everywhere with Lady Washington she was her special girl. After awhile they had news that some of the slaves that ran off with the British got the pox and were hiding in the woods. The British were looking for them because they wanted to shoot them so they wouldn't spread the pox. Oney was really upset because she was scared that her mother was one of them. So a couple of months have passed and

Oney thought that every thing was going ok until someone said that one of the people that have the pox was her mother, and that Mr. Washington was sending for all the slaves that he could get back like Oney's mother. Once her mother was back Oney had to go and see her but if Mrs. Washington found out she went over there she would not let Oney go with her any more. When she went to see her mother she was still mad at Oney for what she did. Her mother didn’t want her to look at her because she was not as pretty any more because of the pox. They were all over her face, arms and legs. Oney said that she was sorry but all what her mother had to say was to get out. After awhile she became a nice young lady because of Mrs. Washington. Then Oney was happy and a lady who worked for Lady Washington for a long time.

Katrina Tarr