Children's fiction; historical. This diary follows the travels and thoughts of a French girl's companion slave; Lozette and her "owner" Marie-Louise escape the clutches of M.'s would-be husband and embark on an adventure (or at least a very long journey) that will end with them finding M's brother (a captive of the English during the French and Indian war), M. getting married to someone she actually likes, and L. being granted her freedom. I read the first 50 pages or so then started skimming, then gave up. The writing is somewhat decent but the characters/plot need more development. ( )

"Freedom is the source of our happiness."

"Look to the Hills. The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl," tells of the year in the life of French Slave (Companion) who transported from the one home she has ever known to a new world toward the end of the French and Indian War. There Zettie (nicname everyone called her) is faced with new landscapes, new people, and new laws especially those governing slavery. Being a companion (a fancy word for slave) had it's advantages such as being taught how to read and write. (Companions were often hired to look after the daughters of Aristocrats until marriage of said daughter.) Zettie tells of being sold & transported from person to person like property. At one point she brought like property by British soliders and from there need to consider if her loyalty lie with the British who fought along side the Indians or the French, where she was a citizen of. ( )

"Freedom is the source of our happiness."

"Look to the Hills. The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl," tells of the year in the life of French Slave (Companion) who transported from the one home she has ever known to a new world toward the end of the French and Indian War. There Zettie (nicname everyone called her) is faced with new landscapes, new people, and new laws especially those governing slavery. Being a companion (a fancy word for slave) had it's advantages such as being taught how to read and write. (Companions were often hired to look after the daughters of Aristocrats until marriage of said daughter.) Zettie tells of being sold & transported from person to person like property. At one point she brought like property by British soliders and from there need to consider if her loyalty lie with the British who fought along side the Indians or the French, where she was a citizen of. ( )

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not. ( )

Part of the Dear America series, Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl (New York Colony, 1763) is written at a child's level, but full of the scholarship that author Patricia C. McKissack brings to her work. This story follows Lozette (Zettie), born on a slave ship as her mother dies, to a brief stay at a convent, then being sold as a companion to a young girl in France, where she lives on friendly terms with her mistress, Marie-Louise Boyer (Ree). Ree's oldest brother joins the military and is presumed dead in America, which news precipitates her father's death. Her next brother then squanders the family fortunes and sells everything to stay out of debtor's prison. Ree escapes with Zettie to America.

There is a good history and geography lesson here about Cape Breton Island, the great lakes, the New York wilderness, and Indian relations with the different Europeans. A “Historical Notes” section at the end, shows pictures of maps, slave ships, and the real persons depicted in this story.

A sample: That need to be free is a force that draws people to this land. It goes beyond being French, English, Dutch, Spanish, man, woman, rich, poor, slave, or free. I can feel the energy of that yearning all around me in the colonists, the trappers, the soldiers.

Very nicely done. 3.6 stars ( )