Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons

''Hang a Thousand trees with Ribbons'' is a 1996 historical novel by

Ann Rinaldi Ann Rinaldi (August 27, 1934 – July 1, 2021)
- Shannon Maughan. July ...

. The story, told in

first-person narration A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller ...

, follows the life of

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates, Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: Ameri ...

, the first African-American poet. The story recounts her capture by black slavers in Africa and the horrors of the Middle Passage as experienced by a woman of intelligence and artistic ability when society assumed Africans were not endowed with either. Ann Rinaldi's vivid portrayal of the first African American poet is set against the backdrop of the American War of Independence, so there is a double theme of search for liberty in the novel. 1996 American novels American historical novels Novels about American slavery Novels by Ann Rinaldi Novels set in the 18th century {{1990s-hist-novel-stub