Sarny was one of the last generation of children born into slavery in the Deep South.
Gary Paulsen began her life story in Nightjohn, published in 1994. Nightjohn defied the vicious regime by teaching his fellow slaves to read after dark; Sarny was one of his pupils.
Sarny: A Life Remembered (Macmillan Pounds 3.99) takes up her story in 1861. When she is freed amid the chaos of the Civil War, she takes to the road to find her children, who have been sold to a new owner. This compelling account, with a ring of authenticity, follows Sarny, as she revels in her freedom, into a peaceful and prosperous old age.
