Madeleine S Children

In 1759 a baby girl was born to an impoverished family on the Indian subcontinent. Her parents pawned her into bondage as a way to survive famine. A Portuguese slaver sold the girl to a pious French spinster in Bengal, where she was baptized as Madeleine. Eventually she was taken to France byway of Ile de France (Mauritius), and from there to Ile Bourbon (Reunion), where she worked on the plantation of the Routier family and gave birth to three children: Maurice, Constance, and Furcy. Following the master''s death in 1787, Madame Routier registered Madeleine''s manumission, making herfree on paper and thus exempting the Routiers from paying the annual head tax on slaves. However, according to Madeleine''s children, she was never told that she was free. She continued to serve the widow Routier for another nineteen years, through the Revolution, France''s general emancipation of1794 (which the colonists of the Indian Ocean successfully repelled), the Napoleonic restoration of slavery, and British occupation of France''s Indian Ocean colonies. Not until the widow Routier died in 1808 did Madeleine learn of her freedom and that the Routier estate owed her nineteen years ofback wages. Madeleine tried to use the Routiers'' debt to negotiate for her son Furcy''s freedom from Joseph Lory, the Routiers'' son-in-law and heir, but Lory tricked the illiterate Madeleine into signing papers that, in essence, consigned Furcy to Lory as his slave for life.While Lory invested in slave smuggling and helped introduce sugar cultivation to Ile Bourbon, Furcy spent the next quarter century trying to obtain legal recognition of his free status as he moved from French Ile Bourbon to British Mauritius and then to Paris. His legal actions produced hundreds ofpages that permit reconstruction of the lives of Furcy and his family in astonishing detail. The Cour Royale de Paris, France''s highest court of appeal, finally ruled Furcy ne libre (freeborn) in 1843. Eight rare extant letters signed by Furcy over two decades tell in his own words how he understoodhis enslavement and freedom within these multiple legal jurisdictions and societies. France''s general emancipation of 1848 erased the distinction between slavery and freedom for all former slaves but the reaction of 1851 excluded them from citizenship. The struggle for justice, respect, and equalityfor former slaves and their descendants would not be realized within Furcy''s lifetime.The life stories of Madeleine and her three children are especially precious because, unlike scores of slave narratives published in the United States and England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, no autobiographical narrative of a slave held by French-published or unpublished-exists. Thiswill be one of only a handful of modern biographies of enslaved people within France''s empire, in French or in English, and the only one to explore transformations in slavery and freedom in French colonies of the Indian Ocean. This story is also significant because of the legal arguments advanced inFurcy''s freedom suits between 1817 and 1843. Furcy''s lawyers argued that he was free by race (as the descendent of an Indian rather than an African mother) and also by Free Soil (the legal principle whereby any slave setting foot on French soil thereby became free, since Madeleine resided in Francebefore Furcy was born). Parallel debates surround the American case of Dred Scott, who began his long and unsuccessful bid for freedom in 1846 in the former French colonial city of St. Louis, Missouri, just three years after the French Cour Royale de Paris upheld Furcy''s freedom on the basis of FreeSoil. However, the French ruling that Furcy was free by Free Soil and the rejection of the racial argument offer a historical counterpoint to the infamous Taney opinion of 1857.The gripping story of Madeleine and her children is especially well-suited to exploring the developments of French colonization, plantation slavery, race, sugar cultivation, and abolitionism. A fluid narrative, it should have appeal for readers of the history of slavery, world history, Indian Oceanhistory, and French colonial history.

Madeline, smallest and naughtiest of the twelve little charges of Miss Clavel, wakes up one night with an attack of appendicitis.

Kate McCann's personal account of the disappearance and continuing search for her daughter, revised and updated. 'The decision to publish this book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts ... My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth ... Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal, intimate and emotional aspects of our lives. Sharing these with strangers does not come easily to me, but if I hadn't done so I would not have felt the book gave as full a picture as it is possible for me to give. As with every action we have taken over the last five years, it ultimately boils down to whether what we are doing could help us to find Madeleine. When the answer to that question is yes, or even possibly, our family can cope with anything ... Nothing is more important to us than finding our little girl.' -- Kate McCann 'A must-read' Sunday Express 'Kate's book blazes with the sheer visceral force of her love for her daughter' Daily Mail 'Deeply moving' Guardian

The perceptive and beguiling tale of a young girl's development as only her father can see it Chosen as one of the 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years by Slate Like most biographies, Brian Hall's charming account of his daughter Madeleine begins at her birth. But unlike most biographies, it concludes with her third birthday. Along the way, it describes Madeleine's intriguing transition from infant solipsism through toddler self-absorption to a small person's sociability. Drawing on the same subtle humor and eye for detail that imbued I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company, his acclaimed novel of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Hall gives us a look at Madeleine's milestones: her first laugh, first words, first tantrum, and brings it all to life from the inside out. By speculating on his daughter's perceptions and experience as she grows, Hall gives us candid and informed insights into the evolution of language, attachments and separations, and a youngster's curiosity and fear. What emerges is a portrait of growing consciousness in action, a universal voyage whose every revelation and frustration is captured with stunning detail and intimacy.

This middle-grade biography explores the life and works of Madeleine L'Engle —written by her granddaughters. This elegant and insightful biography of Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) was written by her granddaughters, Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Léna Roy. Using never-before-seen archival materials that include photographs, poems, letters, and journal entries from when Madeleine was a child until just after the publication of her classic, A Wrinkle in Time, her granddaughters weave together an in-depth and unique view of the famous writer. It is a story of overcoming obstacles—a lonely childhood, financial insecurity, and countless rejections of her writing—and eventual triumph. Becoming Madeleine will speak not only to fans of the icon’s work, but also to anyone interested in writing. This title has Common Core connections.

Writer. Matriarch. Mentor. Friend. Icon. Madeleine L'Engle is perhaps best recognized as the author of A Wrinkle in Time, the enduring milestone work of fantasy fiction that won the 1963 John Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature and has enthralled millions of readers for the past fifty years. But to those who knew her well, L'Engle was much more besides: a larger-than-life persona, an inspiring mentor, a strong-willed matriarch, a spiritual guide, and a rare friend. In Listening for Madeleine, the renowned literary historian and biographer Leonard S. Marcus reveals Madeleine L'Engle in all her complexity, through a series of incisive interviews with the people who knew her most intimately. Vivid reminiscences of family members, colleagues, and friends create a kaleidoscope of keen insights and snapshop moments that help readers to understand the many sides of this singularly fascinating woman.

NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER • TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM DISNEY Read the ground-breaking science fiction and fantasy classic that has delighted children for over 60 years! "A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read it so often, I know it by heart." —Meg Cabot Late one night, three otherworldly creatures appear and sweep Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe away on a mission to save Mr. Murray, who has gone missing while doing top-secret work for the government. They travel via tesseract--a wrinkle that transports one across space and time--to the planet Camazotz, where Mr. Murray is being held captive. There they discover a dark force that threatens not only Mr. Murray but the safety of the whole universe. A Wrinkle in Time is the first book in Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet.

"Atmospheric and immersive, The Paris Children is an extraordinary, rich novel that will leave a powerful mark on readers' hearts."—Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Inspired by the true story of one woman's fight to survive during the 20th century's darkest hour—World War II—Gloria Goldreich presents a story of love and resistance against all odds. Paris, 1935. A dark shadow falls over Europe as Adolf Hitler's regime gains momentum, leaving the city of Paris on the brink of occupation. Young Madeleine Levy—granddaughter of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish World War I hero—steps bravely into a new wave of resistance women and becomes the guardian of lost children. When Madeleine meets a small girl in a tattered coat with the hollow look of one forced to live a nightmare—a young Jewish refugee from Germany—she knows that she cannot stand idly by. Madeleine offers children comfort and strength while working with other members of the resistance to smuggle them out of Paris and into safer territories. As the Paris Madeleine loves is transformed into a theater of tension and hatred, many are tempted to abandon the cause. Amidst the impending horror and doubt, Madeleine and Claude, a young Jewish Resistance fighter who shares her passion for saving children, are drawn fiercely together. With a questionable future ahead of them, all Madeleine can do is continue fighting and hope that her spirit—and the nation's—won't be broken. A remarkable, panoramic book of resistance during World War II, The Paris Children is a story of love and the power of hope and courage in the face of tragedy. Praise for The Paris Children: "In The Paris Children, real-life Resistance fighter Madeleine Levy steps out from behind her famous grandfather, French political figure Alfred Dreyfus, to claim her own legacy of patriotism as she battled against anti-semitism in World War II. Author Gloria Goldreich shares the inspiring tale of Madeleine's brave and dangerous rescue of French children and the bittersweet nature of her ultimate sacrifice."—Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie "In Gloria Goldreich's magic hands, this true story becomes a beautiful, imaginative retelling of an extraordinary woman's life. With her fine images and perceptive insights, Goldreich captures a dark era—and the human goodness that illumined it."—Francine Klagsbrun, author of Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel "A page-turning and inspiring story of how courage and family ties can survive even the worst of evil."—New York Journal of Books