Anthony Burns

The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave

By Virginia Hamilton

Mass Market Paperback

Published on Jan 4, 1993 | 208 Pages

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Grades 3–7
Ages 8–12

Now in Laurel-Leaf, Virginia Hamilton’s powerful true account of the sensational trial of a fugitive slave.

The year is 1854, and Anthony Burns, a 20-year-old Virginia slave, has escaped to Boston. But according to the Fugitive Slave Act, a runaway can be captured in any free state, and Anthony is soon imprisoned. The antislavery forces in Massachusetts are outraged, but the federal government backs the Fugitive Slave Act, sparking riots in Boston and fueling the Abolitionist movement.

Written with all the novelistic skill that has won her every major award in children’s literature, Virginia Hamilton’s important work of nonfiction puts young readers into the mind of Burns himself.

Award Winner

"Moving and unforgettable."—School Library Journal, Starred

"Beautifully written . . . a riveting reality tale whose legacy, even now, is not finished."—The New York Times Book Review

ISBN 9780679839972 (Mass Market Paperback)
Published on Jan 4, 1993
Published by Laurel Leaf
Pages 208
Dimensions 4-3/16 x 6-7/8
Age Range 8-12 years
Grade Grades 3-7

Virginia Hamilton

Virginia Hamilton, storyteller, lecturer, and biographer, was born and raised in Yellow Springs, OH, which is said to be a station on the Underground Railroad. Her grandfather settled in the village after escaping slavery in Virginia. She was educated at Antioch College and Ohio State University and did further study in literature and the novel at the New School for Social Research. Virginia was the first African American woman to win the Newbery Award, for M.C. Higgins the Great. Since then, she has won three Newbery Honors and three Coretta Scott King Awards. In 1992, Virginia was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, which is presented every two years by the International Board on Books for Young People, in recognition of her entire body of work. Virginia writes first for the pleasure of using words and language to evoke characters and their world, and in historical accounts such as Anthony Burns, the lives of real people. Secondly, Hamilton writes to entertain, to inspire in people the desire to read on and on good books made especially for them.

Leo and Diane Dillon have twice won the Caldecott Medal