Stolen into Slavery: The True Story of Solomon Northup, Free Black Man

by Judith Bloom Fradin, Dennis Brindell Fradin

The true story behind the acclaimed movie 12 Years a Slave, this book is based on the life of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who was captured in the United States and sold into slavery in Louisiana.
 
Solomon Northup awoke in the middle of the night with his body trembling. Slowly, he realized that he was handcuffed in a dark room and his feet were chained to the floor. He managed to slip his hand into his pocket to look for his free papers that proved he was one of 400,000 free blacks in a nation where 2.5 million other African Americans were slaves. They were gone.
 
This remarkable story follows Northup through his 12 years of bondage as a man kidnapped into slavery, enduring the hardships of slave life in Louisiana. But the tale also has a remarkable ending. Northup is rescued from his master's cotton plantation in the deep South by friends in New York. This is a compelling tale that looks into a little known slice of history, sure to rivet young readers and adults alike.

National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Middle Grade, School, American History, Biography Memoir

120 pages, Hardcover

First published December 27, 2011

About the author

Judith Fradin has co-authored more than three dozen children’s and young adult books with her husband, renowned writer Dennis Fradin. Starting in the 1990s, Judy began helping Dennis research and write the From Sea to Shining Sea state book series for Children's Press. When those books were completed, the Fradins collaborated on Who was Sagagawea?

Their next joint venture, the Clarion young adult biography Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, became the first of their three Society for Midland Authors Award winners. More award-winning Fradin biographies followed, including Five Thousand Miles to Freedom. The Fradins then co-authored the Witness to Disaster series for National Geographic Children's Books.

Judy Fradin loves visiting schools and libraries, sharing how an idea becomes a book as well as practical tips about writing non-fiction. She has spectacular slide shows for each of her Witness to Disaster books and for Five Thousand Miles to Freedom as well as her books about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her Underground Railroad presentation features pictures she obtained for Bound for the North Star, Dennis's collection of true slave-escape accounts.

Reviews

[Madison.02 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stolen into slavery made me feel really sad, and with this book, you realize how bad the conditions were. Along with the things we learned in social studies, it still taught us things that made us think more from the perspective of them. Although, if I could have changed anything it would have been the length of the book so we would have found out more about where he went instead of him disappearing.

[ConfusedKyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was super inspiring! I do think that it felt really blotchy. It seemed like it rushed through important parts. It skipped parts as well and I got confused. But the story was beautiful and I really love how they had pictures because honestly, they help me understand things better! Recommend to people who want a heartwarming/heartbreaking story! :)

[Naomi Oyegue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I CAN'T IMAGINE BEING A SLAVE, NEITHER CAN I BELIEVE BEING FREE AND I WANT TO PROVIDE FOR MY FAMILY AND I WAS TRICKED AND SOLED THIS SHOWS THAT YOU CAN NEVER TRUST ANYONE

BUT I AM GLAD THAT AT THE END HE WAS A FREE BLACK MAN AGAIN

[Elise S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pretty good book about slavery, there was a lot of stuff that went on over the course of this book. Stolen into slavery takes you on a journey of freedom and shows how bad slavery really was. It shows a perspective of life as a slave. The book offers insight into not only the bad things that the people encountered but also the goodness of some of those he had encountered. I recommend this book to anybody who likes books about slavery, and fairly fast books.

[Amanda M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I knew that back then free African Americans were kidnapped and sold into slavery, but I did not know that it happened so often. Solomon Northup starts out as a free man looking for a job, then two men offer him a job. They travel far and then one night they go into a tavern and the two men put a very strong drug in his drink to make him even more dazed. The next morning he wakes up in a man's slave pen. This man is goes by the name of James Birch. Then Birch sold Solomon to Theophilus Freeman. Freeman put Solomon on a boat bound for New Orleans, Louisiana. There Solomon was sold to William Ford. Ford owes money to a carpenter, Tibaut, who did some work for him. Ford owed Tibaut six hundred dollars. Ford told Tibaut of Solomon's a thousand dollar worth, so Ford said that Tibaut had sixty percent ownership of Solomon, to pay off the six hundred dollars. Tibaut irrationally was going to beat Solomon, but Solomon tackled Tibaut and started to beat him. After that Tibaut tried so many times to kill him. Eventually Solomon was sold to Edwin Epps. Epps got Solomon a fiddle to play with at parties and celebrations. Samuel Bass did some work for Epps and Solomon helped Bass with his task. During that time Bass and Solomon became friends and Bass wrote letters to people that could come and free Solomon. They waited several months, but no letters were received. The letters did not get to the people for at least a month. The people eventually got the letters and started their search for Solomon. Solomon's uncle, Henry, found out that Bass helped Solomon and found Bass and talked to him. After Bass trusted Henry and understood who he was then Bass told Henry where Solomon was, how to get to him and who his master was. After Solomon was safe again and free his uncle took him back home to his wife and kids. Through all of his slavery from the beginning to the end Solomon had been a slave for eleven years. He served eleven years as a slave when he was a free man.

[Kelly Ketcham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiction twin text- Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine- 2007

Rationale- I chose this book as my twin text because both stories show the struggle of a man as a slave and their courage to find a better life. Both of these books are very inspiring and since each is focused on one main character I thought this was a great opportunity to compare the two characters situations. The picture book is very moving and I definitely think it would capture my students attention. I thought Henry's Freedom Box would be a great introduction into slavery before we got more vivid details from Stolen into Slavery.

Text structure- chronological sequence

Strategy application- I would use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between Henry and Solomon after we hair dad both books. I would encourage the students to think of character traits, the situations of the characters, or any other comparisons they might be able to find.

(2012, April 1). School Library Journal. http://www.booksinprint2.com.leo.lib....#

[Atticus GArcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The theme for Stolen into Slavery: The True Story of Solomon Northup, Free Black Man is to appreciate your freedom. This message can be portrayed when Solomon is being sold master to master and realizes how much harder it will be for his family to track him down to save him because each master changes his name. This theme is also shown when he is being forced to whip another slave, Patsey, and misses how much freedom he had as a free man. This is also shown when he comes to the sad realization that if he says he is free that he would be whipped and that he should not tell people he once had his "free papers."

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Solomon, a free black man living in upstate New York who is happily married and the father of three. He had never been a slave but he found himself in this absolutely awful situation where he was stolen and sold several times. In the story he tells of his experiences during those twelve years.

[Makayla D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie, only picked this book up because I needed to fill my non-fiction spots but don't regret reading this. The book is generally about slavery but goes very into detail. I liked this book because when I was reading it I could picture what slaves went through. If you do not like graphic books then I would not read this. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about slavery because I definitely did.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love how we are set in the perspective of the slave. We get to see details and dig in deeper in this hurtful event. We’ll never get to feel what they went through but this book gives us an insight to it. I hope that the people back then read this and completely changed their mindset on slavery. I love that he never gave up trying to be free even though more than 9 years have passed.

[Jeramiah Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book to me was great yet controversial. Not too many authors write about the topic of slavery and the ending be great. I enjoyed the book because I think it told as much truth as it could. This book can spark discussions/conversations with young and older audiences. The book gave better detail than the movie in my opinion.

[Kasey.9220 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot because it gave me another point of view on slavery. We already learned a lot about the topic form social studies, but this book was so informative that I definitely feel like this book filled in the gaps. I rate this book almost perfectly. I loved the photos and notes they provided, and I loved the story itself, but I wish we would have gotten more information in the ending.

[Kay Mcgriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot imagine the horror of being born and living free and then being kidnapped and sold into slavery for twelve years, but that horrifying fate is just what Solomon Northup survived. Judith and Dennis Fradin recount Solomon's story in Stolen into Slavery: The True Story of Solomon Northup, Free Black Man (Scholastic 2012).

Solomon Northup was born free in New York state in the early 1800s. He was educated and worked as a carpenter. He also played the violin. He married and had three children. Then in 1841 he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years on cotton plantations deep in the Louisiana swamps. His name had been changed, so it was nearly impossible for his family to discover what had happened to him. Since his kidnappers had stolen his money and the papers proving he was free, it was impossible foa him to prove his identity and regain his freedom. For twelve long years, Solomon looked for a chance to escape and return to his family. Even though it was illegal to kidnap and sell a free black, the guilty parties were never brought to justice even though they were known.

Basing their research on Solomon's own account of his years of slavery and on other records including bills of sale and court documents, the Fradins bring Solomon's story to life in a gripping narrative.

First published on my blog at http://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled across this true story in a school book order form. When I ordered it I really had no expectations. I have trouble finding my fifth and sixth grade students nonfiction books that they really like. This one will be a hit. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Solomon Northup, a free slave in the north, who was stolen and sold into slavery in the south. The story resounded as vvery believable. I in particular liked that mention was made that a lot of southerners believed in treating their slaves well. The court system which tied to bring the kidnappers to trial were their own prisoner of the laws of the time. Even though Solomon had written a popular book about his experiences, he could not testify in a court of law. Therefore the kidnappers went free. It bothers me that several years after once being freed Solomon disappeared and leaves open to speculation as to exactly what could have happened to him. I had students lined up waiting for me to make this book available to them. I know they will learn a lot from it.

[mg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great alternative narrative about a slave in the 1840s-1860s who was born a free man, then sold into slavery for 12 years. It is a short book (~100 pages) and moves fairly quickly due to short chapters.

I would recommend this for middle grade elementary students, especially those who are reluctant to read nonfiction. However, I found at least 3 typos when reading the book. The shoddy editing made me question if all the facts were correct -though the authors explain in the beginning that they went to great lengths to research the subject of this book. Since they have co-authored "dozens" of books together, you would think they would have gotten an editor that was worth a hill o' commas by this point...

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I never gave much thought to free black people being captured into slavery. This book is an engaging account of how an educated free black man, husband, and father was enslaved but held out hope of one day returning. The book really lets one see the injustices of slavery and made some of the history I learned in textbooks really come alive to show the horrors of slavery while also showing what those opposed to slavery would do to help people like Solomon. Makes me want to read his 1853 autobiography "12 years a slave"

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story about a free black from New York state who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana for 12 years. After he was finally freed, he wrote a detailed account of his story which is the basis for this book.

[Timothy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book was inspiring. It teaches you to never give up no matter what happens to you. It is about Solomon Northup who was a free black man from New York who was tricked to go into the South and found himself a sold into slavery, but he never gave up until he was finally set free.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, except for the fact that the material contained in this story was so painful . . . I could say it was wonderful. Read it in one sitting; really could not put it down. Easy-to-read short story.

[Dotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The depravity of humankind continues to dismay me. A riveting nonfiction read.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and easy to understand story of Solomon Northrup's twelve years spent as a slave.

[Claire M · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT was written by Judith and Dennis Fradin It all started when a free black man named Solomon Northup was sold into slavery. One day a group of guys told Solomon that they work for the carnival and it would be a one day job. These white men were actually luring him in the state where Black people were not allowed and they were slave if they lived there. So one day he took the job and he got kidnapped in to slavery. So he is now at New York City and Washing DC was another one he was in jail for a long time and then came sail day and a his nightmare was coming true and then it was finally his turn fear in his eyes wondering if he will ever see his family. He got soiled on a ship and the got transported to a different state and then he saw his friend he was free to but his friend they found out he was a free black man so the they returned him back home.So Solomon worked in the cotton field for more then twelve years now and every holiday he plays his violin for his owners and for other slaves.

Mr. Epps, Solomon's owner, hired a man named Bass to build his new home. Mr. Epps told Solomon to work with Mr. Bass because he knew how to build homes too. While working together many hours Solomon became comfortable with Bass and told him about his being stolen into slavery. Bass didn't agree with slavery and he decided to help Solomon. Mrs. Epps liked Solomon and had him go to the store to get supplies. There he found paper and took it to Bass to write letters to his friends and family. Mr. Bass mailed out the letters and waited over two months for a response. Mr. Bass had to leave to find more work and Solomon gave up hope. Then just after Christmas Solomon was working in the cotton fields and approached by two men and they walked right up to him and said "Do you have any other name than Platt?". Solomon answered yes I'm Solomon Northup. The two men took him into their custody and started to make their way home.

Solomon went to court turning in his owners that sold him into slavery. Unfortunately the judges didn't believe black people and only listened to the white people so they were set free. Solomon finally made it home and met his wife and children 12 years after he was stolen. Then a while later met Wilson who wrote a book about his story named Twelve Years a Slave. Everyone read his book and it was very popular during this time.

This was such a good book, I rate it 5 out of 5 stars and I loved learning about slavery and what they went through back in history. I related it to my life right now and see how privileged we are.

I recommend for people that want to learn more about the past because it is such an good book to read .

[Carson Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: This book is the best and it goes with school if you are learning about this stuff in school it is about a man named Solomon based on a true story and the time was when you could have slaves but Solomon had a free black family that had some kids and a wife and it was harder to find a job but his wife had found one and got paid for it but Solomon did not he was good at playing music but he did not use that for his job so he had one job one day and then had a different job the other day but one day two men saw Solomon and tricked him into being a slave it all started by playing music for the two men that would sell tickets and do cricut stuff and said that they are going to meet the main circuit people later and Solomon was fine with that because it sounded real but it was not then one night when they worked harder they went to the bare and the two men drugged Solomons drink and then solomon woke up in a slave hold and later on in the book he has been in fights with his masters and the masters wanted to kill him but he did not because he was worth a lot of money so he sold Solomon to a new master his family was the Epps. Epp the new master had a kid and a wife the kid was like his dad with the slaves and started to whip them and torture them but Epp was a man who drunk all day and all night and he had a lot of moods when he was drunk like a dancing mood a mad mood and so forth but his favorite mood was the dancing mood and made all his slaves dance with him except solomon because he was the one that was making the song because he was good at that he was so good at it he got to make money for it and keep the money. Then later on in the book still with the same master Epp was very rich and made a new house so he hired some men to make it but solomon could make houses to so he had to join them but there was this one man named Bass and bass did not like how they could own slaves and no one liked bass just for that but he was not that man that made speeches about it when ever someone was talking to him he would talk about the slave thing and bass was the best person to solomon because he was forced to be here he was a free man but he got kidnapped into slavery so Bass helped him get out of slavery and wrote letters to solomon's family and saying that he is still alive and he has been kidnapped into slavery and where solomon's family lived that was a law that if you are free and kidnapped into a slave people would come to the person's door that had that slave and make the slave into a freeman like solomon s solomon was a free man and did not have to run away. I rated this book a 5 because it was a good book and I could connect it with school because we are learning about slavery and other stories in school.

[Levin M]

My book is stolen into slavery, by Judith Bloom Fradin. This book is about slavery on how life was back then. It was April 1841 it was a horrible time right now for Solomon Northup he woke up with his hands and feet looked up in handcuffs he was chained to the floor. Solomon was 32 years old. Solomon was free in the north and he was taken into the south as a slave. That was a big adventure for him to go across the country to a new life of slaves in the south. It was not fair for him. He was beaten for days. Once Solomon healed he was able to walk and exercise in the yard. He had his paper and was supposed to be free but was a slave for 12 years before he was freed to go back to his family in the north. It was another long adventure back. He wrote a book about his experience and it sold a lot of copies.

I rate this book a 3 out of 5. Some of it was hard to understand. I also did not like some of the bad words they used. Overall it taught me a lot about slavery and it was interesting and I would recommend this book to people who like history.

[Noah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stolen into Slavery by Judith Bloom Fradin,Solomon Northup is a free black man in Saratoga Springs, New York he is on his way back from Wasington D.C. and then was stolen and was sold in New Orleans then he was then going to Louisiana to be a slave on a plantation. He was a slave for 14 years working on 3 plantations. Then at the end he sent a letter to some people back at his home,the people reacted quickly and came to save him he waited about 8 months before rescue had came and reunited with his wife and 3 children. The theme of this book is Survival i know this because the book show and tells about how his life was and how he survived 14 years in slavery like what he worked on and how he did it. I give this book a 4 star review because I feel like it's cool how he survived 14 years in slavery and how they used to do stuff like farm cotten and other materials or resoures.I recommend this book to anybody who likes surviving or history like how stuff worked back then or like what it was like back then.

[Lisa Muller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A retelling of the story of Solomon Northup, a free-born black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1842. This is the story of his kidnapping, his time in a slave pen, and his struggle for survival in southern Louisiana for twelve years. Thanks to his courage, his intelligence, his determination, and some very lucky breaks, he was able to connect with people he knew in his home in New York, and he was returned to his home and family there, and to freedom. He wrote his autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave, in 1855, and the book was reissued in 1996. This is a 114 page retelling of the story, aimed at school-aged kids. It is definitely a book that should be available to our children, but very well might be "banned." in several states. It is well-researched and compelling. I definitely recommend it to all ages.

[JustAnotherFangirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had to read this book in Middle School for our Civil War and Reconstruction units in LA and History. I found the book to be slightly lacking only because I read the original text: Twelve Years a Slave, last year. I did think this is a good version for middle-schoolers, many of whom may not understand the complex language or harshness of the original text. Still a great book with a thought-provoking storyline. I would recommend this book to anyone under the age of 14. If you are 15 years or older, I would really recommend the original, especially if you are using this as a reference for a historical paper/resource.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solomon Northup was kidnapped and enslaved for 12 years and this quick read provides details of his experience. Solomon Northup went on to write down his experiences that were then turned into a book much longer than this and eventually became the basis for the motion picture 12 Years a Slave.

This will be added to the curriculum for Honor Students where I am student teaching. It should not prove difficult for students to complete and is compelling enough to encourage even reluctant readers with a bit of motivation. The book is full of symbols, foreshadowing, and provide ample opportunity for compelling questions to guide student reading.

[Victoria B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a "kid's" version of Solomon Northup's "12 Years a Slave." I would say that based on content and language, this book would be better suited for 7th or 8th grade and up.

The content was well-written (despite a few typos) - I was captivated by Northup's struggles, horrified by his circumstances, and sympathized with his determination to return home. I feel like it packed a lot of information into 111 pages, and I appreciated the visual materials that accompanied the text. I wish there was more effort to discover what exactly happened to Northup after 1960, instead of just guesses or theories, but I suppose that can't be helped.

[Gabrielle Armstrong Velazquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had already researched in college the life of Solomon Northrop as well as other slaves but this book is amazing for those who are dipping their toes into this side of history. US has the bad habit of glossing over the horrors of slavery and this book is a great “gateway drug” into finding out more!!

It’s written in easy to understand third person, with quotes from the real people and the original autobiography. It also adds important historical context. This is great for middle schoolers and even high schoolers. Teachers! Use this for English or history classes!!!

I’m only giving it 3 stars because FOR ME, it was too short.