A PICTURE OF FREEDOM 

by: Patricia C. McKissack
WEBSITE BY:LILLI MANIS
The Characters:

Missy; Clotee’s old friend, Missy is now all set to dig up as much dirt as possible on Clotee, so she can get pretty things.

William: Son of Mas’ Henley, he, his tutor, Spicy, Hince, and Clotee are all set for slippin’ slaves off the plantation. Will they make it?

Mister Harms: Williams tutor knows Clotee can read and write, but he lets her keep on learnin’. Why? ’Cause he’s an abolitionist!(But don’t tell on him, it’s a secret!)
This is the main character of the book A Picture Of Freedom. Her name is Clotee, and she is a slave on Belmont plantation. Clotee works in the "Big House," and most slaves consider her lucky, even though she knows she is not. With the mistress, Miz Lily bribing slaves to tell all of her secrets, Clotee realizes that the Big House is even more dangerous than the Fields and, to cap it all, Clotee can read and write! She has a lot of tricks up her sleeve, but are they enough to keep Miz Lily off her and a secret abolitionist’s trail? Or will she be found out and ruin the chances of freedom for all the slaves under Mas’ Henley’s dictation.
Belmont plantation: an important part of the Underground Railroad, Clotee ‘s home is an extremely large plantation, so a lot of slaves are needed. Although dozens of slaves are in the kitchen alone, nobody will tell what goes on until the rich Miz Lily sends a slave girl from the fields in "diggin’ for a bone on me" (as Clotee put it). Slaves that told were rewarded with things they liked, but Clotee had taught herself not to be jealous. Missy, the spy, always got pretty things, as she liked to call them. (Clotee thought they were ugly, but never showed it.) With a little bit of trickery, Clotee manages to help the secret abolitionist, and wins the friendship of a very unlikely ally, William, Mas’ Henley’s own son. Clotee’s friends, Spicy and Hince;

Spicy:" My Mama was all set to call me Rose. But den, dat big ol’ Mas’ come along, and name me Spicy. What a silly name." Spicy is a big, strong girl, who is better suited to the Fields, but is kept with her friends in the kitchen anyway.

Hince:" I know I’ll win. Big Can is the best horse ever!" Hince is Mas’ Henley’s best jockey. Hince is actually white, but he is a slave because of the Virginian law; if the mother is black, the child is black, the mother is a slave, the children are slaves. Big Can’s real name is Canterbury, and he is Hince’s best racing horse. Clotee likes to consider Hince her "brother friend."