Mary Dyer Friend of Freedom

by John Briggs

"Mary Dyer did hang as a flag..."

Mary Dyer was the first woman executed in America for her religious beliefs, but her death started a revolution no one could stop.

Mary Dyer, Friend of Freedom is the first children's book about this largely forgotten civil rights leader. It tells the true story of her courageous fight for religious freedom against some of the most powerful men in colonial America. Middle-grade readers are encouraged to learn how this humble Quaker inspired kings and governors on two continents and became an international civil rights hero.

110 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2014

About the author

Born outside Philadelphia and raised in the Pocono Mountains, I've been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. Well, we had no TV when I was a kid, so I'm sure that helped. Yeah, I know. My son thinks I grew up with the dinosaurs. My favorite books as a child were middle-grade biographies, which definitely taught me how to write them. I couldn't put them down. Today, I mostly write humorous books, including picture books, children's joke books, and the political satire "A Vote for Jesus". I currently live in upstate New York with a teenager, a tween, and a toddler. Yeah, I'm pretty tired.

Reviews

[TL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm just proud to be related to her:). Reading the words she wrote at the end was particularly moving for me.

She fought for what she believed in and didn't back down.. its sad to see some attitudes really haven't changed much or at all:(.


It just puts things in perspective reading what those who came before you have been through and sacrificed. You realize how lucky you are and are humbled when you realize that one wrong thing happening along the way and who knows if you would have been born, or the same person?


She was a brave woman at a time when it was especially not easy to be different.

This would be a good shorter volume to get people interested in history, especially those whose lives may have been skipped over in history classes.

My uncle brought Mary Dyer to my attention some years ago (he's the genealogist for the one side of the family). I appreciate her more now than when I was younger. Something about getting older ignites a desire (at least in me) to know more about where you came from.

Putting on my bucket list to see the places connected with her and William.

[K.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great kids book about someone I never heard of before. I saw a statue of her in Boston and decided to read up on her. This book told me everything I needed to know. I'll be sure to share it with my daughter in a few years.

[Lisa Potocar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a diamond in the rough of middle-grade historical biographies! In chronicling the life of Quaker Mary Dyer, from her birth to her hanging in 1660 for having used her tongue against religious tyranny, Author John Briggs treats the reader to a highly entertaining, sweeping portrayal of the beginnings of the United States and as they intertwined with those of Great Britain, their colonial power across the seas on the continent of Europe. The numerous sidebars, paintings, historical documents and letters, timeline of events, brief sketches of other historical figures, glossary of terms, and even the list of resources round out this biography to make it a gem that would most definitely supplement a middle-grade history lesson. Kudos to Author John Briggs for his incredibly well-researched and well-written piece of non-fiction!