Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt: A Review

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson tells the story of Clara, a 12-year-old slave girl who lives on a plantation. She longs to escape.

First, Clara worked in the fields which was very hard work. A kind older woman taught Clara to sew and eventually got Clara assigned to the “big house” to sew for the missus. The sewing room was near the kitchen, and Clara began to learn all kinds of new things as she listened intently to the grown-ups talk. That’s where she first learned of the Underground Railroad.

She learned that if you followed the Underground Railroad you could be free. There was one small catch. You needed a map. Clara did not even know what a map was!

But she listened and she learned. Then Clara came up with the idea of piecing a quilt that was a map of the way to freedom. It took her a long time but she finished it. After it was finished, with the memory of the quilt firmly embedded in her head, Clara escaped to freedom.

This book is a wonderful book to read to your child to teach hope perseverance and most of all courage.