Freedom on the Sea: The True Story of the Civil War Hero Robert Smalls and His Daring Escape to Freedom by Michael Boulware Moore (review)

Reviewed by: Freedom on the Sea: The True Story of the Civil War Hero Robert Smalls and His Daring Escape to Freedom by Michael Boulware Moore Kara Forde Moore, Michael Boulware Freedom on the Sea: The True Story of the Civil War Hero Robert Smalls and His Daring Escape to Freedom; illus. by Bryan Collier. God-win/Holt, 2024 32p Trade ed. ISBN 9781250818355 19. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 1-4 This stunningly illustrated picture book chronicles the story of Robert Smalls, a man born enslaved in South Carolina who famously escaped from the Confederacy during the Civil War. Though enslaved by Samuel Kingdom, Smalls was determined to buy the freedom of his wife and two children with the scant wages he was given. However, when he realized how long it would take to earn the sum required to free his family, he devised a daring plan. On the night of May 12, 1862, knowing that the Confederate crew of the Planter military ship would leave the boat at dusk, Smalls snuck aboard and, together with his family and the other enslaved crew members, sailed the ship to a Union blockade of warships just beyond the harbor. Moore's text delivers the right amount of explanation while recounting this incredible true story, first providing concise background information about Smalls End Page 370 to understand his sailing skills and protective motivations before focusing on the highly perilous moments of the escape. An immersive reading experience is created by the level of detail about the endeavor, including the challenge of blowing the right passcodes with the ship's whistle to pass the Confederate forts and Smalls' impersonation of the mannerisms of the captain to remain undetected. Collier's exceptional illustrations achieve a moving three-dimensionality, with an appearance of collaged mixed-media methods that combine meticulous colored pencil drawings, expressive oil paints, and layered cut paper within a high-contrast color palette of bright blues and warm orangey browns. A brief letter from the author details his intimate connection to this story, as Moore is running for the congressional seat that his great-great-grandfather Smalls once held. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois