Jefferson's Sons

By: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo

What does it mean when the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence is your father and also your slave master? Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson’s children, but their mother is a slave, so they must keep their father’s identity secret. They get special treatment - better work, better shoes, even violin lessons - but they are still slaves. Their father has promised to set them all free when each turns 21. Some of them are light-skinned enough that they will be able to enter white society - and thereby turn their backs on home forever. Others won’t have that option. So just what did their father mean when he wrote all men are created equal?

Told in three parts from the points of view of three of Jefferson’s slaves - Beverly, Madison, and a third boy close to the Hemings family - these engaging and poignant voices shed light on what life was like as one of Thomas Jefferson’s invisible offspring.

©2011 Kimberly Bradley (P)2011 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“A big, serious work of historical investigation and imagination; the tale has never before been told this well.” (Kirkus, starred review)

“Bradley’s fine characterization and cinematic prose breathe life into this tragic story.” (School Library Journal, starred review)

“Bradley’s sensitive and richly imagined vision pays respect to those who struggled for lives of stability and dignity, even as the whims and fortunes of the Jeffersons shifted beneath them.” (Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books, starred review)