Michaela MacColl

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Blog

emily dickinson – redux

November 15th, 2019, 3:24 pm

Please please check out this piece in the New Yorker: Emily Dickinson: Freelancer by Emma Brewer. It’s hysterical. Here’s a sample:

There’s a certain Slant of light,
Deadline Afternoons—
That exposes all the Dust
Just—let me get the broom—

Categories: Blog

Remembering Their Names

June 23rd, 2019, 12:40 pm

Of all the volunteer work I do, the most satisfying is what I do to help our local Westport Historical Society. For the past year, our exhibit has been called “Remembered: The African-American Experience” in Westport. Everyone I have brought to this exhibit says the same thing…. “We had slaves in Westport?” In fact we have the names or descriptions of 240 names in the late 18th – early 19th c. of persons who were enslaved right here.

First Names Only

The names are usually only first names. Amos. Dorcas. Ned. Phillip. Tom. Nancy. These were the most common. Some were heart-breakingly ironic – Prince or Fortune. Then the odd ones. Gin. Coffee. Or how about Wench? Or Negro child. Of the 240, about 20 were the names of persons who were freed. Another 25 are listed as the children of other slaves and therefore the property of their owners. Slavery wasn’t fully abolished in CT until 1848.

Two Daughters Named Eliza

Dred Scott sued for his freedom to protect his daughters. The case went to the Supreme Court. There he was told that he and his family, by virtue of being black, were not actually American and never could be. Therefore they had no standing to sue in court. When I wrote Freedom’s Promise about Dred Scott’s daughter Eliza I discovered that his daughters were both named Eliza. He and his wife, both slaves, did this deliberately to confuse their absentee owner about the ages of their children. As their daughter grew up, they were more valuable. Dred and Harriet hoped to fool their owner into thinking that the Elizas were too young to sell. Ironically the duplication of names was a defense.

Remember Their Names

Yesterday I spent several hours with our Executive Director, Ramin Ganeshram, arranging bricks for a permanent memorial to remember their names. It was a massive amount of work and the absolute least we could to make sure we never forget.

Categories: Uncategorized Tagged: Slavery, WestportHistory

In the Mood for some Louisa May?

August 5th, 2019, 10:54 am

Photo: The Revelation of Louisa May

Chronicle Books for Kids has chosen The Revelation of Louisa May as their ebook deal for August! I tell the story of all the trouble Louisa May Alcott can get into one summer when Marmie is away…

Kindle: https://amzn.to/2K2KCzQ

iBookstore: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-revelation-of-louisa-may/id918354587?mt=11&app=itunes1001lQT8

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-revelation-of-louisa-may-michaela-maccoll/1119941476?ean=9781452138015

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Michaela_MacColl_The_Revelation_of_Louisa_May?id=lqSdBAAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-revelation-of-louisa-may

Categories: Uncategorized

Pagoda Hill

May 26th, 2017, 5:40 pm

I’ve been away for a long time because I’ve been under contract working on a book for Calkins Creek. It’s a family story about an ancestor of mine from Shanghai, China. She came to America as a little girl and lived in upstate New York.  She was homesick and her father arranged for an artist to paint an enormous pagoda on the family barn.

I’ve discovered my ‘family story’ is actually one that resonates with the immigration debate today. Nina, my ancestor, came here just a few years before the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.  This is the only law that prohibited immigraition based solely on nationality.  It was not repealed until 1943! Nina was OK because she was the daughter of an American and therefore American herself. But you have to wonder how she felt coming to a country where the dominant refrain was “Chinese Go Home.”

Here’s the barn and Nina!

Categories: Uncategorized

TeenReads gives a Great Review for Secrets in the Snow

November 6th, 2016, 9:02 pm

I’m blushing at this lovely review from TeenReads:

“MacColl presents a fascinating and engaging fictionalized account of Jane Austen’s youth….drawing upon her experience writing historical fiction to make Austen’s life come alive to her readers.”

Categories: Blog, Reviews, Secrets in the Snow Tagged: Secrets in the Snow

The Blog Tour Moves on to Quillable!

October 25th, 2016, 10:43 pm

Secrets in the Snow – Book Review

secrets-in-the-snow-blog-evite

Categories: Blog, Reviews, Secrets in the Snow

Fab Book Reviews discusses Jane Austen and Secrets in the Snow

October 21st, 2016, 10:32 pm

Check out the Fab Book Reviews take on Secrets in the Snow

Blog Tour: Secrets in the Snow by Michaela MacColl

secrets-in-the-snow-blog-evite

Categories: Blog, Reviews, Secrets in the Snow

Freedom’s Price is a New Book for Missouri Students

October 16th, 2016, 2:05 pm

The Missouri State Teachers Association has selectee Freedom’s Price to be recommended book for Missouri students.  The heart of this book is about Eliza Scott, daughter to the famous Dredd Scott, fighting to get an education in St. Louis MO in the 1840s.  I’m delighted that kids in Missouri will be directed toward this book!

 

Freedoms Price Cover

Categories: Uncategorized

Booklist Loves The Lost Ones

October 15th, 2016, 9:54 pm

Booklist Online Exclusive: September 29, 2016

The Lost Ones.

Casita and her family thought their village of Lipan Apache, in Mexico, would be safe from U.S. Cavalry raids. But one fateful day in 1877 proves how wrong they are. Casita witnesses the brutal murder of her mother and the destruction of their village before she is forcibly relocated to Fort Clark in Texas with her younger brother and other survivors. While most survivors are exiled to reservations, Casita and her brother, Jack, are looked after by a kindhearted military family until they are wrenched away again, this time to the Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania. Haunted by the past yet still looking for a future, spirited, sensitive Casita navigates the confusing white world while still holding to her Apache identity. Readers will cheer her determined spirit in the face of shattering loss. Highly engaging historical fiction and based on actual people, MacColl’s Hidden Histories series tale is powerful storytelling and an excellent prompt for classroom discussion of Indian policy.

— Anne O’Malley

Categories: Blog, Books, Reviews, The Lost Ones

The Blog Tour stops at Bloglovin’

October 7th, 2016, 10:49 pm

My favorite line from this review:

“Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a real delight to read! I highly recommend it to fans of Jane Austen, but also those who are not quite familiar with her history because this book allows you to understand a bit more about one of the greatest literary writers ever. MacColl has also included an author’s note (which I really appreciated), about the differences from her book and history & she’s included a bibliography (yay!).”

 

secrets-in-the-snow-blog-evite

Categories: Blog, Books, Reviews, Secrets in the Snow

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