Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 10038 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine yoon byun 7. W ould it chill you to the bone to discover a bill of sale for 11 human beings at an auc- tion in Northeast Harbor, along with their names and prices? For Ashley Bryan, stum- bling onto this horrific single sheet of paper among the collection of 20 documents he ac- quired was the point of departure for his lat- est book, Freedom Over Me. How did the documents find their way up here? Were they among the lost ephemera of the summer rusticators of Bar Harbor, many of whose families had earned their fortunes with ties to the slave trade generations be- fore? Maine is a state whose history with slavery often goes unacknowledged. While the Little Cranberry Island resi- dent has penned numerous award-winning children’s books–he’s the first ever Afri- can American to ever write and illustrate a book in that genre, this story is something else again. It is fearlessly poignant, gentle, and evoking deep feeling where that is re- quired, because Bryan feels young readers deserve the chance to understand an imper- fect world along with the rest of us. “I want to continue to strive to create worthy work that gives the best to children,” he says dur- ing a telephone interview, his voice so strong it sails across the line. Because of Bryan’s gift for storytelling, there’s a sweetness here, too. In Freedom Over, Me Bryan explores the legacy of slav- ery through the 11 striking voices he devel- oped from the names on the bill of sale he found, all members of a family sold from their estate. The single document that drew him in particular–the Fairchilds Appraise- ment of the Estate–is a list of “goods” and their prices, including animals, cottons, and, yes, those enslaved. In its searing incom- pleteness, the nightmare document con- tains only names and prices. The discov- ery prompted a ten-year-long “heart and soul project,” during which time Bryan im- mersed himself in further research into slav- ery, as well as imagining himself in the shoes of these 11 enslaved individuals. “In doing a book like Freedom Over Me,” he says, “I was reading every day deeper and deeper into what I knew [of slavery], but I did not truly know the depth of the segregation and hor- ror, the extremes of cruelty. The details are overwhelming. I spent most of the time cry- ing as I wrote it.” Originally planned as a book for young adults, Freedom Over Me shifted when Bry- an’s editor suggested he rethink its trajecto- ry: “‘Ashley,’ she said, ‘this is a book for chil- dren.’” More specifically, Freedom Over Me “prepares [children] for the history of their country in a loving manner.” As parents and children read Freedom Over Me togeth- er, children can ask their parents about the images, the themes, the history. They can ask their parents, in short, about slavery. “My first instinct was to set the story in Virginia,” says Bryan, “but my editor point- ed out that the document gave no indication of location. Instead we chose to let the read- er set the story wherever he or she imagines, because slavery happened all over the coun- try–north to south. Nowhere in this country was innocent of any involvement in slavery. Our entire industry was built on slave labor. “If those documents had been in New York, Chicago, or San Francisco,” Bryan says, “all the institutions would’ve been after them.” But here in these northern latitudes, “I took that document because it had noth- ing in it.” His passion and responsibility was, “I could make it up: who [the slaves] are, their work, where they come from.” From there, Bryan began making por- traits of each character, purposely hitting close to home by using the features of his friends and family to create the images. Then he began to ask questions about the people, now fully visualized. “If you were free, what would your dream of life be?” This Dream Catcher At 93, Ashley Bryan is just getting started.