Jones, Carrie. Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender: The True Story of a Civil War Spy. Illustrated by Mark Olroyd. Carolrhoda Books, 2011. 32 pages. $17.95. ISBN 9780761353997.
Summary:
Sarah Emma Edmonds was a daring spy for the Union Army during the Civil War who transcended gender and race to supply the army with valuable information. She posed as a black slave, as a male nurse, and as a man, Frank Thompson, who once pretended to be a young Irish peddler woman. In this picture book biography format, Edmonds’ story is told in an engaging, direct style based on Edmonds’ own writings and some secondary sources. The book includes an author’s note and a selected bibliography on the final page.
Curriculum Connections:
Though this text would fit in well with a unit on picture book biographies aimed at 1st-3rd graders, this would also be an ideal text to use to explore gender roles.
Personal Reflections:
Edmonds experimented with “pretending” to be male from an early age: her courage and boldness in service to her country is a large part of the story. But so is her exploration of her own identity and gender.
Awards:
Age/Interest Range:
6-12
Genre/Themes:
History, Civil War, Nonsexist literature, Biography, Gender
Read-Alikes:
My Princess Boy (Kilodavis) is a picture book that explores issues of gender and identity in an accessible way for young children. King and King (de Haan) is another text that addresses gender roles, as well as sexuality.
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