Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl

Look to the Hills / 0-439-21038-0 The Dear America books rarely disappoint and this one is no exception. Marketted for children, the books are equally engaging for adults, and this one is a paricular joy as it decries any argument that slavery can ever be a good or useful condition for mankind. Lozette Moreau is a pampered French slave, a "companion" to her mistress, and her life is one of ease and luxury. Her "work" consists of following her mistress to the opera, and practicing fencing with her, never manual labor under harsh conditions. She is never beaten or harmed, she is taken exceptionally good care of, her mistress loves her, and she is allowed to speak her mind as she sees fit. And yet, through all this, she is a slave. If her family needs money, or if her mistress tires of her, she can be sold at any moment, against her will, and uprooted. And though she is loved, as a slave she is never truly respected or treated as anything more than a human 'pet'. Lozette longs for freedom. Throughout her adventures in America, she eloquently argues that she can never be a true friend to her "companion" unless her friendship is freely given and could be freely taken away. She argues that without the ability to refuse to be a companion, any "choice" she has to be a companion is meaningless and not true friendship. As her mistress searches for her lost brother and learns about life in America, outside of high society, she comes to respect both her own African slave and the American Indians she encounters in her travels. When she finds her lost brother married to an American Indian, she recognizes that they are much happier in America than in France, and she chooses to follow her brother's example - becoming a wife and a friend to people not of her own race. This is a beautiful Dear America book and will touch the reader's heart. As Lozette struggles passionately for her freedom, we are caught up in the narrative as we pray that she will be successful and will win what so many were able to only dream of. For parents, this book has no significant violence and no overt sexuality. Lozette is a good role model, both wise and clever, and very kind and spirited. Ree, her mistress, is a product of upper-class French society, but overcomes her prejudices with grace, as she travels across America, even entering a duel in order to save her brother's life and honor. This book is both highly enjoyable and very instructive.

Zettie is a slave to Marie-Louise's father but when he dies she worries about what will happen to her. Marie-Louise convinces her fiancee to buy Zettie. They then escape to Spain and then to America in search of Marie-Louise's other brother Jacques who was thought to be dead but may in fact be alive. For Zettie, she keeps hoping Marie-Louise or Jacques will be able to free her. I like that she does eventually become freed. I enjoyed reading all about Colonial America, the forts, French and Indian wars and a part of American history I don't hear about. I liked Zettie a lot. She was a smart, clever girl who was a fabelous duelist.

After starting high school, I started taking French as a foreign language so I was really looking forward to reading this book and learning more about the French culture. The book didn't disappoint me. 12-year-old Lorzette Moreau "Zettie" is a companion, a better world for a slave in the upper class French society. Her mistress, Marie Moreau "Rae" is set to be married to a man she does not love so that Maries brother Pierre can pay off his debts. Zettie is also set to be sold off. When Zettie begins the diary she is locked in a room waiting for the day she will be sold and never see her mistress again. Little does she know that Rae has a plan for escape. After a daring escape, Zettie and Rae, with the help of friends, find themselves at the Ortega's house, Rae's godparents. There, they learn that Jacques, Rae's older brother, presumed dead from the war between France and England, may be alive and well as a captive in the Colonies, America. So, soon Zettie finds herself setting foot in a new land. However, Zettie finds that the way Americans treat slaves are no differnt than in France. Even though Rae is very nice to her, Zettie still isn't Rae's equal. Zettie yearns for freedom and she soon begins to learn that she might be able to use her skills to do just that. Will Zettie be able to look to the other side of the hills, freedom? I definitely enjoyed this book. It had a new perspective on the slave, one that was refreshing and different. I recommend all readers of Dear America to read this book.

I was looking forward to this book because I relatively enjoy McKissack's books and this subject seemed very original. I read this before I decided to start Lady of Palenque (don't touch Lady of Palenque I beg of you) and I managed to get it done in about 2 days. The diary is enjoyable with it's sad moments, its fun moments, and its periods where you have to stop and think, such as when the subject of Zettie being free rather than being free of Ree comes up. Some parts of this diary dragged a little but they were made up for soon enough because there was plenty of excitement in this diary from the swordfights to the unexpected arrival of Ree's abusive brother, Pierre, and of course the entire flight from Aix-en-Provence to Spain. The main characters, Zettie and Ree, are really very inspirational for girls. Ree is a woman but she is also very in control of herself and a fine athlete. And Zettie, although a slave, is highly intelligent and mannered and quite a linguist. Some characters did annoy me, I'll admit, and others I wondered why they were even so vital. And the man that Ree chooses in the end baffled me. He really didn't seem like her type...Not at all. But I guess it goes to show what the whole book is about, how all people are equal no matter your race or background and that everybody should come together and love one another and stop hating. An average Dear America book, I would recommend it, but there are others in the series that I could say were a little better.

Twelve-year-old Lozette Moreau, called Zettie, has lived all her life since she was a baby in the French countryside as the companion to Marie-Louise Boyer, called Ree, daughter of a wealthy nobleman. Although she is still considered a slave, as Ree's companion she is treated well, able to read and write, and to speak French, Spanish, and English. But when Ree's father dies and her brother Pierre inherits everything, he loses the family fortune with his bad decisions. Now he is going to sell Zettie, and force Ree into marriage to a man she despises. Then Ree learns that her other brother Jacques, presumed dead in the war with the English, may be alive, and living with Indians in the Colonies. Ree and Zettie escape to Spain and then travel across the ocean to the New World, where they end up living at Fort Niagara. In her diary, Lozette describes their journey, their experiences at Fort Niagara at the end of the French and Indian War, and her own longing to be considered free. I highly recommend this new book to all readers who love the Dear America series. I especially love Colonial American settings and I liked reading a different type of slavery story. Zettie was well treated but still longed to be a free person. It's a very unique book sure to be enjoyed by historical fiction fans.