Michaela MacColl

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I’m Grateful to the Grateful American Prize

Freedom’s Price has been awarded the Honorable Mention by the Grateful American Prize.

Freedoms Price Covergrateful-american-hon-men-2016

Here’s the criteria:

The GRATEFUL AMERICAN™ BOOK PRIZE is the only award for excellence in writing, storytelling and illustration for children’s historical non-fiction and fiction focused on the events and personalities that have shaped the United States since the country’s founding.

I’m so flattered to say that this is the second time one of my books has been so honored. Last year, The Revelation of Louisa May was the recipient.

Freedom’s Price Reviews

“History comes alive in this imagining of the life of Eliza Scott, one of the daughters of Dred Scott, the slave at the center of a landmark case in American history…. Not much is known about the real-life Eliza, but these authors’ depict her as brave, headstrong, and intelligent…. this book is a compelling and exciting narrative as well as a window into a possible history…. A great choice to support school curriculum.” —School Library Journal 

“MacColl and Nichols paint a vivid picture of slavery’s brutal yoke… (e)xpect a savvy, energetic fighter in Eliza, and suspenseful plotting in this fine piece of historical fiction from the Hidden Histories series.” –Booklist

 

Coming Soon! The Lost Ones

I just received my author copies of the Lost Ones — what a beautiful book!

LOST ONES_FC hires

 

Haverhill High School Students Rock!

School visits… I love them.  Yesterday, I spent the morning at Haverhill High School with fabulous teacher Andrea Laws. Usually I speak to younger kids (middle school) – but these kids were juniors. When they asked questions about writing, they were thinking in terms of college and careers. It was a nice change — and I realized how much I’ve learned the past few years!

 

Booklist thinks Eliza is Savvy!

I am a sucker for the word “savvy” — and I was before Pirates of the Carribbean!  Booklist just gave Freedom’s Price a lovely review.  Here it is:

It’s 1849 and Eliza and her family live in a St. Louis jail while the court ponders their status as free or slave. Her father is Dred Scott, whose bid for freedom will culminate in the famous Supreme Court decision years later. Eliza fumes, secretly learns to read, and longs for a future in a more just world. MacColl and Nichols paint a vivid picture of slavery’s brutal yoke. Nowhere is this more sharply etched than in the tension between daughter and parents as Eliza tries to live in the world and spread her wings. Mother Harriet knows her teen daughter, even with free status, could be kidnapped by unscrupulous slave traders. As if the slavery crisis were not burdensome enough, a cholera outbreak and then a large fire steeps the city and its people in more misery. Expect a savvy, energetic fighter in Eliza, and suspenseful plotting in this fine piece of historical fiction from the Hidden Histories series.— Anne O’Malley

Do you know me?

I belong to a writers’ group on Facebook and one day the topic was “Google Alerts.” I had noticed that my alerts seemed to have gotten less and less effective. Someone mentioned Mention.com.  I tried it out for free and found all sorts of things I’d missed about myself. This lovely site is called Women You Should know and it thinks everyone should get to know me!