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Richie's Picks: SEARCHING FOR SARAH RECTOR: THE RICHEST BLACK GIRL IN AMERICA by Tonya Bolden, Abrams, January 2014, 80p., ISBN: 978-1-4197-0846-6
"They couldn't pick a better time to start in life--
It ain't too early and it ain't too late!
Starting as a farmer with a brand new wife--
Soon be livin' in a brand new state!
Brand new state -- gonna treat you great!
Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters,
Pasture for the cattle, spinach and termaters,
Flowers on the prairie where the June bugs zoom, ...more
"They couldn't pick a better time to start in life--
It ain't too early and it ain't too late!
Starting as a farmer with a brand new wife--
Soon be livin' in a brand new state!
Brand new state -- gonna treat you great!
Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters,
Pasture for the cattle, spinach and termaters,
Flowers on the prairie where the June bugs zoom, ...more
Feb 26, 2013
Monica Edinger
added it
I found the lack of much about Sarah herself made this a challenging read for me. I realize it was what I wanted versus what the book is so I will eventually go back and reread it with a more open stance. I do appreciate Bolden's taking on this interesting situation and found many of the primary sources fascinating.
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While the promotional materials imply this book is about the disappearance of Sarah Rector, her short disappearance is barely mentioned. This book describes the plight of Sarah Rector and other wealthy minors who owned oil-rich land allotments. These children were often abused and raised in poor conditions while their court-appointed guardians plundered the children's earnings and estates.
An interesting topic that is little covered in history courses, I think this book provides a great resources ...more
An interesting topic that is little covered in history courses, I think this book provides a great resources ...more
A catchy title but the rest of the book did not grab me. The sentence level writing in the first chapter was confusing to me, especially the pronouns. I felt like I needed to be back in fifth grade diagramming sentences to understand who did what. The time period maps are good time period photographs but were hard for me to understand, let alone a child. Otherwise and interesting story that did not live up to the catchy title. I felt like the "search" did not develop enough suspense or otherwise
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This was an interesting book. There was plenty of detail and primary source photographs and documents to look at. There were twists and turns in the story as readers learn about Sarah Rector's life, her guardianship, and he amassed fortune. Not much information presented is directly from Sarah, though, since she was a very private person. I would have enjoyed learning a little more about her life.
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Strangely enough, the title is only about one very small part of this book. The content is more about time period and situation for black freedmen when Sarah Rector was young, than about her actual disappearance. I found the history quite interesting. I thought I knew about the Oklahoma "sooners" but my knowledge about Indian Territory and the beginning of Oklahoma was sadly lacking. This filled in some of the blanks for me. I hadn't realized that some of the Native Americans were slaveholders.
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This is SUCH a good story, but I fear readers will find this story too confusing. Inessential details (what's a guardian? What's a lease? Why was the land divided up? What's a "wildcat"?) that aren't well explained are going to interfere with what is otherwise an incredible story about exploitation.
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I was clueless to this part of American History so I was eager to read and learn. Once I finished the book, I felt that there was so much missing from it. It really wasn't about Sarah Rector because there was so little to find. Great premise just failed in execution
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Nov 21, 2013
Angela
marked it as to-read
Nov 21, 2013
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Jan 16, 2014
Shawn
marked it as to-read
Feb 02, 2014
Addy
marked it as to-read
Feb 15, 2014
Emily
marked it as must-put-aside-for-the-time-being
Mar 16, 2014
Beth
marked it as middle-grade-to-read
Jun 29, 2014
Karen
marked it as to-read
Feb 06, 2015
Annisha Jeffries
marked it as to-read
Feb 23, 2016
Margo Jantzi
marked it as to-read
Oct 28, 2023
Christina
marked it as to-read
