Scan barcode
shullin3's review against another edition
5.0
I have just finished this book and am in tears. Tears for all the people in this story and all the others who have ever been enslaved. Slavery is abhorrent in any form and as this book says,” There is no good slave owner.” No matter how you dress it up or how an enslaved person’s situation may have appeared there is nothing to justify the owning and controlling of another persons life and choice. Thomas Jefferson did many things in his life. Many things people remember him for with admiration and reverence. Things that are true and helped to shape the creation of this country. However it is also true that he owned people, had children with a women who could never really consent and lived his life in a way that thrust massive debt onto his descendants and led to the selling of 130 people. People with likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams who had families and whom were sold to the highest bidder regardless of what they wanted. Many children were split up from their families and were never able to be reunited in their lifetimes with those they loved. This story highlights the childhood of Sally Hemings children with him using alternating perspectives. I believe this is an important book that made me think critically of the narrative we are fed about our countries history at a young age.
aepbuilder's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
elainegl's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book about Thomas Jefferson's sons by Sally Hemings. Of course, most of the dialog and character qualities were imagined, but they were imagined very well. I loved Sally's character! I listened to this as an audiobook and I don't recommend that. I wish I would have just read it instead. This book is great to read before or after America's First Daughter to compare Jefferson's children from Martha with his children from Sally. Overall, an excellent book!
torihoo's review
3.0
Jefferson's Sons, as the title suggests, narrates the childhood of Thomas Jefferson's children by his slave, Sally Hemings. The questions that are presented in this story and the detail in which they are thought through by the characters is astounding. Can you be a good person while participating in evil? How much would you pay for freedom? Were all slaveholders bad?
The story is told from the point of view of three boys, through different parts of their lives - Beverly Hemings, Maddy Hemings, and Peter Fossett.
The very last page of the book was unbelievably moving, and even without the rest of the incredible story, the last page makes this a book worth reading and worth owning.
The story is told from the point of view of three boys, through different parts of their lives - Beverly Hemings, Maddy Hemings, and Peter Fossett.
The very last page of the book was unbelievably moving, and even without the rest of the incredible story, the last page makes this a book worth reading and worth owning.
ksherman712's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
My kids and I read this book in preparation for a visit to Monticello. We wanted to learn about Thomas and Sally’s relationship, and the kids they birthed. I enjoyed the historical accounts and narrative that KBB creates. I found some parts lacking. I wish the story ended with more information on Sally and her children’s life after Jefferson’s death.
KBB made the story of enslavement approachable and raised questions for myself and my kids. Beautiful and engaging text.
KBB made the story of enslavement approachable and raised questions for myself and my kids. Beautiful and engaging text.
izz_al_din's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
idek where to start w this book 😩😩
the first time i read this abt two yrs ago i remember absolutely loving it. i have terrible memory so i forgot my initial thoughts on the book so i recently decided to reread it esp bc i was in a slumppp and wow. i vaguely remembered some plot points which kind of tempered my enjoyment (srsly how do ppl reread books yearly ? doesn’t it get boring ??) but this book still has a special place in my heart like i srsly have not been able to stop thinking abt this since i started it. ik it’s a middle grade book BUT SHE IS VRY GORGEOUS TO ME 😤☝️
first of all jefferson has to be top ten evil ppl no doubt. yeah he wrote the declaration and other founding father stuff but the way bradley dives into his contradictory nature thru a child’s pov, his own children’s no less, makes it sm more heartbreaking. the way beverly didn’t understand why he couldn’t call his own father ‘papa’ like poor bb 🥺🥺 and the way he grew up to be such a sweetheart and caring big brother 🥺🥺 AND WHEN HE CAME BACK AFTER LEAVING FOR THREE MONTHS BC HE GOT INTIMIDATED AND WAS VRY LONELY I TOTALLY FORGOT ABT THAT PART 😭😭 literally just shoot me it would hurt less. everyone deserved sm better except obvi for jefferson + the slave owners 🤢🤢
i found maddy’s pov to be the most interesting since his view of his father is vry different from the first pov we’re exposed to aka bev’s. maddy def disliked jefferson much more (esp after jefferson sold his bestie james which is actually so despicable i can’t) but he still felt an obligatory sense of duty to his father ? his feelings were def vry conflicting but it hurt more to learn that maddy was the darker one out of his siblings so he wouldn’t be able to fully transition into white society meaning he would be LEFT BEHIND 😭😭 his angry conflicting feelings r soo justified like that is sickening. knowing that these were real ppl also just makes it a thousand times worse. i can’t just shrug it off as fiction bc IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. that’s just so insane to me idk why but historical fiction books do this to me. like they’re obvi based on real events but they breathe LIFE into these accounts. just the realization that these were real people who had their own thoughts and opinions and feelings that are now lost to time but w historical research and excavations we can uncover some of it ?? find out what their lives were like even just a little bit ?? god history is maddening. bradley is maddening. HUMANITY is maddening. the author’s note where bradley discerns the artistic liberties from the concrete fact put the salt in my very open and very deep wounds that she gave me w her amazing characterizations and dialogue. UGH and the sort of epilogue literally killed me. bev + harriet nvr saw maddy + eston again… and peter escaped slavery at THIRTY years old (he was sold when he was NINE) and rejoined his family 😭😭 and the fact that his father, even tho he swore he would nvr stop trying, couldn’t get their whole family back together again. and that we don’t know what happened to peter’s sister maria. like,,, how do we just lose ppl’s stories. how do they just get erased like they nvr lived in the first place. how is there no evidence of their existence. HOW DO WE NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM. screaming crying throwing up on a random thursday night bc i can’t comprehend the unrelenting passage of time 😗✌️just girlhood things 🤪🤪
i wish tho bradley went more in depth w harriet, sally, priscilla + the other women in the story. they’re not necessarily glossed over but they don’t get nearly enough attention for the important roles they played. sally is such a complex character like she who, for some reason, still loves jefferson (the man who was married to her half sister and then when she died he started fcking with her when she was just a little older than his own daughter like,,, pedo much?) and loves her children but knows the precarious predicament they’re in but still does everything in her power to guarantee freedom for her kids- the kind of freedom that was ripped from her and nvr got to enjoy. and she’s aware of the privilege her family enjoys bc of her relationship w jefferson and then teaches her kids to be aware of it and the horrors of slavery that her kids would nvr have to experience bc of who their father is… i swear i can write a whole essay on this tho i kinda did that already lmaoo
the premise of the book is def five stars but the way it was carried out brought it down to a four. i don’t want to be too harsh bc ik the book is aimed for younger readers but still yk. the middle kind of dragged on for a while and i got bored of bradley’s blunt writing style tho i adore her characterizations and dialogue like i said before. the nuance portrayed thru the innocent and confused povs of kids growing up in a hateful and harsh society w a lot of things going unspoken was a vry clever way to introduce younger readers to the sensitive topic of slavery + familial issues so that got some points tho i would die of happiness if bradley rewrote this story in a more descriptive writing style for a maturer audience 💕💕
i NEED to read more abt the hemingses- my roman empire fr
the first time i read this abt two yrs ago i remember absolutely loving it. i have terrible memory so i forgot my initial thoughts on the book so i recently decided to reread it esp bc i was in a slumppp and wow. i vaguely remembered some plot points which kind of tempered my enjoyment (srsly how do ppl reread books yearly ? doesn’t it get boring ??) but this book still has a special place in my heart like i srsly have not been able to stop thinking abt this since i started it. ik it’s a middle grade book BUT SHE IS VRY GORGEOUS TO ME 😤☝️
first of all jefferson has to be top ten evil ppl no doubt. yeah he wrote the declaration and other founding father stuff but the way bradley dives into his contradictory nature thru a child’s pov, his own children’s no less, makes it sm more heartbreaking. the way beverly didn’t understand why he couldn’t call his own father ‘papa’ like poor bb 🥺🥺 and the way he grew up to be such a sweetheart and caring big brother 🥺🥺 AND WHEN HE CAME BACK AFTER LEAVING FOR THREE MONTHS BC HE GOT INTIMIDATED AND WAS VRY LONELY I TOTALLY FORGOT ABT THAT PART 😭😭 literally just shoot me it would hurt less. everyone deserved sm better except obvi for jefferson + the slave owners 🤢🤢
i found maddy’s pov to be the most interesting since his view of his father is vry different from the first pov we’re exposed to aka bev’s. maddy def disliked jefferson much more (esp after jefferson sold his bestie james which is actually so despicable i can’t) but he still felt an obligatory sense of duty to his father ? his feelings were def vry conflicting but it hurt more to learn that maddy was the darker one out of his siblings so he wouldn’t be able to fully transition into white society meaning he would be LEFT BEHIND 😭😭 his angry conflicting feelings r soo justified like that is sickening. knowing that these were real ppl also just makes it a thousand times worse. i can’t just shrug it off as fiction bc IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. that’s just so insane to me idk why but historical fiction books do this to me. like they’re obvi based on real events but they breathe LIFE into these accounts. just the realization that these were real people who had their own thoughts and opinions and feelings that are now lost to time but w historical research and excavations we can uncover some of it ?? find out what their lives were like even just a little bit ?? god history is maddening. bradley is maddening. HUMANITY is maddening. the author’s note where bradley discerns the artistic liberties from the concrete fact put the salt in my very open and very deep wounds that she gave me w her amazing characterizations and dialogue. UGH and the sort of epilogue literally killed me. bev + harriet nvr saw maddy + eston again… and peter escaped slavery at THIRTY years old (he was sold when he was NINE) and rejoined his family 😭😭 and the fact that his father, even tho he swore he would nvr stop trying, couldn’t get their whole family back together again. and that we don’t know what happened to peter’s sister maria. like,,, how do we just lose ppl’s stories. how do they just get erased like they nvr lived in the first place. how is there no evidence of their existence. HOW DO WE NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM. screaming crying throwing up on a random thursday night bc i can’t comprehend the unrelenting passage of time 😗✌️just girlhood things 🤪🤪
i wish tho bradley went more in depth w harriet, sally, priscilla + the other women in the story. they’re not necessarily glossed over but they don’t get nearly enough attention for the important roles they played. sally is such a complex character like she who, for some reason, still loves jefferson (the man who was married to her half sister and then when she died he started fcking with her when she was just a little older than his own daughter like,,, pedo much?) and loves her children but knows the precarious predicament they’re in but still does everything in her power to guarantee freedom for her kids- the kind of freedom that was ripped from her and nvr got to enjoy. and she’s aware of the privilege her family enjoys bc of her relationship w jefferson and then teaches her kids to be aware of it and the horrors of slavery that her kids would nvr have to experience bc of who their father is… i swear i can write a whole essay on this tho i kinda did that already lmaoo
the premise of the book is def five stars but the way it was carried out brought it down to a four. i don’t want to be too harsh bc ik the book is aimed for younger readers but still yk. the middle kind of dragged on for a while and i got bored of bradley’s blunt writing style tho i adore her characterizations and dialogue like i said before. the nuance portrayed thru the innocent and confused povs of kids growing up in a hateful and harsh society w a lot of things going unspoken was a vry clever way to introduce younger readers to the sensitive topic of slavery + familial issues so that got some points tho i would die of happiness if bradley rewrote this story in a more descriptive writing style for a maturer audience 💕💕
i NEED to read more abt the hemingses- my roman empire fr
brittanylutz's review
5.0
This is a really important story and it deserves more hype. The writing around the interactions between sally and her children were don’t with so much care and tenderness and i loved reading them. I was hooked instantly and this is definitely one of my favorite historical fictions now! People of all ages can love this and i think it would be a great book to teach in schools or for book clubs.