MINTY by Alan Schroeder ~ Culture 2

MINTY by Alan Schroeder

Author: Alan Schroeder

Title:  Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman

Illustrator:  Jerry Pinkney

Publisher:  Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 1996

ISBN:  0803718896

Plot Summary

Young Harriet Tubman, whose childhood name was Minty, dreams of escaping slavery on the Brodas plantation in the late 1820s.

Critical Analysis

The forward of Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman states that the author used creative license on the story within; however, there are many facts woven into the story, including Tubman’s childhood name of Minty and her life as a slave in the 1820s on the Brodas plantation. This identification of character names in the text add to other African American cultural markers, including the language patterns (“Don’t lie to me, girl, ‘less you want a whippin’.”), the hints of religious stories (“Then in a low voice, Minty started to tell an old Bible story, the way her mother had told it to her.”), and the foods – both in the Brodas’ family home and the slave quarters (“Minty, you go up to the big house and ask Missus for some sugar and two cups of flour. Tell her I want to make a pie, if she’ll let me.”).

The reader knows, on this side of history, that eventually Minty does escape from slavery and becomes the infamous Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman. The author’s choice of words combined with the illustrator’s watercolor artwork helps the reader feel Minty’s frustration at being a slave and the self-doubt she feels when she passes on opportunities to escape.

Award winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney chose a bright red bandanna to draw the reader’s eye towards the young Minty in his illustrations. Minty is drawn with expressive facial features on each page depicting her spirit, rebellion, and determination. The watercolor illustrations give movement to the pictures, especially in the splashes of water as Minty frees trapped muskrats and when she learns to swim.

Reviews

• Children’s Literature (1996): “Alan Schroeder tells a gripping tale. Minty is independent, feisty and incapable of being a docile slave. Her dream of freedom burns brightly even when she is whipped for freeing muskrats from her master's traps. Little is known about Tubman's childhood, but from his research, Schroeder believes that this story might have happened. Pinkney's paintings are powerful and add to the drama of the story. A fictional telling often more successful than pure facts for it puts the sufferings of slaves in human terms that touch the heart.”
• Kirkus (1996): “Told in rhythmic prose and colloquial dialogue, the plot has actual events that are small, but it is rich with melodrama, suspense, pathos, and, of course, a powerful vision of freedom. Pinkney's illustrations exhibit, characteristically, his refined draftsmanship; the complicated compositions convey psychological aspects of slavery and make the individual characters even more distinct. This exquisitely crafted book resonates well beyond its few pages.”

Awards

• 1997 Winner, Coretta Scott King Award, Illustrator
• 1997 Winner, Christopher Award
• 1998 Winner, Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Grades 4-8

Connections

• Have students research images and the history of commemorative coins and postage stamps with Tubman’s image. Discuss their importance and have students create their own versions of commemorative coins and stamps.
• Learn more about illustrator Jerry Pinkney at the website: http://www.jerrypinkneystudio.com/ (However, it has not been updated since 2016.)
• If you have a TeachingBooks.net subscription, you can play an audio recording of Jerry Pinkney discussing his use of watercolors in Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman.

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 17, 2017.

Pinkney, Jerry. 1996. Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803718896

Schroeder, Alan. Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996. ISBN 0803718896