This series is part of the American Girls Books.
Addy Walker was born to a slave family on a Southern plantation during the 1850s. When the series begins, during the Civil War, she is almost ten years old. Her parents have been worried for along time about their children: Addy, her older brother Sam, and her younger sister Esther. Although the children are young, they are beaten down with hard work every day, except for Esther, who is an infant, still too young to work. Their lives and future rest on the decisions of their master, who can sell any of them at any time, not caring about keeping the family together. They’ve been considering running away, taking the entire family with them, but it would be a risky venture.
Then, the worst possible news comes: their master has decided to sell Addy’s father and brother, separating them from the rest of the family. Addy tries to warn them so they can leave before being taken away, but she is unsuccessful. Afterward, Addy and her mother have a decision to make between the two of them: do they try to run away before their family is fractured further?
They make the decision to escape and head north to freedom, but doing so means leaving Esther behind because she is too young to travel and might give them away by crying. They leave her with family friends, knowing that their master would not sell her because no one would buy a slave who is too young to work. They hope to be reunited with Esther later, as well as Addy’s father and brother, once they have established themselves as free blacks in the north.
After a perilous journey, Addy and her mother settle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but their escape is really just the first part of their struggles. They now must build a new life for themselves and find the scattered members of their family. In the end, they are finally reunited as a family with a brighter future ahead of them.
In Philadelphia, Addy’s best friend is a girl named Sarah. She has problems with a snobby girl named Harriet at school, whose family has been free for longer than Addy’s and has more money. She uses her family’s money and reputation to boss the other girls.
In the first book, Addy’s mother explains that Addy’s real first name is Aduke. She is named after her great-grandmother, who was brought from Africa as a slave when she was young. Addy wears a cowrie shell around her neck that her great-grandmother brought with her from Africa.
Later in the series, it is revealed that Addy doesn’t know when her real birthday is because slaves’ births were not recorded. All she knows is that she is about 10 years old and that she was born sometime in the spring. At the urging of a family friend, she chooses a birthday so that she can celebrate every year, and the day she chooses is the date of the end of the Civil War.
Some historical fiction series which show slaves or 19th century black people from the South try too hard to show the accents of the characters, using odd spellings to try to get readers to “hear” how the characters sound. However, dialogue like that can be difficult and annoying to read, which is why I was glad that they didn’t try that with the Addy series. Addy and her family don’t always speak “proper” English, which is understandable for the time and area they lived in and the fact that slaves did not attend schools, but the author shows this in a more low-key way, with proper spellings that are easy to read and understand. The flavor of their speech is still there, enough to give readers an idea of how characters sound compared to other people, but they still sound like people, not caricatures.
My book list is incomplete because I’m focusing on those no more than ten years old, and I don’t have access to some of the activity books. For a more complete list, see this American Girl Wiki.
Books in the Series:
When the slave owner who owns Addy’s family sells her father and brother to a different owner, Addy and her mother make the difficult decision to try to escape and start a new life in freedom elsewhere.
In Philadelphia, Addy attends school for the first time, learning to read, write, and make friends with other girls.
Addy and her mother prepare for their first Christmas in Philadelphia, which brings conflicts, decisions to be made, and some wonderful surprises. This is the book where Addy and her mother reunite with her father.
An elderly friend of Addy’s family urges her to choose a birthday for herself because Addy, like other former slaves, doesn’t know the date when she was actually born. When this friend falls ill, Addy and her friend Sarah take some risks to help her. The book ends with the end of the Civil War.
Now that the war is over, everyone is celebrating. Addy’s church holds a fair to raise money for victims of the war. When the money they raise is stolen, can Addy and her friends find the thief? This is the book where Addy finds her brother Sam again.
Slaves from the south are being free following the end of the war. Addy’s family receives word that their old friends are bringing little Esther to Philadelphia. But, the good news also comes with bad, and Addy has to come to terms with the changes happening in her life and family.
Mystery Stories:
Shadows on Society Hill
When Addy saves a man from being struck by a horse while crossing the street, the man offers her father a job and a new place for the family to live. Needing a new job and a new home, the family eagerly agrees, but there are a number of secrets surrounding this man and his house.
Supplemental Books:
This book has recipes like the kind that Addy might have made in the 1860s.
Welcome to Addy’s World
About what it would be like to grow up around the time of the Civil War, like Addy did.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 