Summary Of Ellen's Broom

The second book I chose to analyze is called Ellen’s Broom (Lyons, 2012). This book was about an African family experiencing new freedoms after slavery had been abolished. Specifically, this family was experiencing the new freedom of legalized marriage. As stated in the book, there used to be laws against slaves which did not allow their marriage to be protected by the law. Rather, their lives were in the hands of their masters. Due to this injustice, many slaves would jump over a broom to symbolize marriage in God’s eyes. However, since the law had changed after slavery, the Ellen’s, the main character, parents planned on actually getting married through a certificate. At the end of the story, Ellen made sure to incorporate the family’s past