Children’s Literature
Volume 44, 2016
pages 21-60
DOI: 10.1353/chl.2016.0018
Brian Dillon, Professor of English
Montana State University-Billings
Ann Rinaldi, Wolf by the Ears, (New York: Scholastic, 1993).
This novel, narrated by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings’ daughter, includes four historical inaccuracies: they contribute to a pitiful view of the slave-owning president. Determining authenticity requires a more subjective interpretive response: the depiction of Harriet Hemings’ life at Monticello and her decision to leave and pass for white does achieve a convincing degree of authenticity.
Read or purchase the review here.