The Amazing Ona Judge

Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington’s Courageous Slave who Dared to Run Away (Young Reader’s Edition) By Erica Armstrong Dunbar & Kathleen Van Cleve

     Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington’s Courageous Slave who Dared to Run Away is adapted for younger readers from Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. This entry is a discussion of the adapted version. I have not yet read the original version written for an adult audience.

     The full title conveys a beautiful synopsis of the book. Never Caught is the tale of Ona Judge’s escape from George and Martha Washington.

     The reader first meets Ona Judge serving Martha Washington. As readers learn about Ona, they also re-study events from the country’s early history, events such as the American Revolution, the nation under the Articles of Confederation, and the writing of the Constitution. Dunbar and Van Cleve never keep us far from the parallel narrative of Ona Judge, giving the reader insight into the lives of enslaved people. Dunbar and Van Cleve do a wonderful job of helping us experience American history from the vantage point of enslaved people, adding a new and long missing way to view and critique American history. This angle is just one of several factors that makes this book so important.

     When George becomes president, Martha must journey to New York City, America’s first capitol. The authors share Martha’s concerns and a sense of what the journey must have been like for her. In this part of the book, we also come to know Ona Judge better and understand her experiencing of the journey. The lens on American history widens.

     When the capitol moves to Philadelphia, Ona moves to the City of Brotherly Love to be with the Washingtons during George’s presidency and we are provided a glimpse into the free Black community of Philadelphia. We get to know Richard Allen, a man who had been enslaved and then went on to be one of Philadelphia’s prominent abolitionists.

     The story becomes energized as Dunbar and Van Cleve describe Ona’s escape from Philadelphia on a ship and her subsequent fight to stay free in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The reader learns much of Ona’s private life. She marries a sailor, Jack Staines. They have three children. Jack Staines dies in 1803 and Ona struggles, living a life of hard work and poverty, but a life of freedom.

     Dunbar and Van Cleve show great respect for their readers, sharing some sophisticated ideas. They help us understand the foundations of historical thinking, reminding the reader that historians use primary documents to construct their presentation. We are told about letters as a source for understanding George’s feelings at particular moments. The authors share the actual words and writing of George, Martha, and others and take us deeper into their thoughts. At the end of the book they present a newspaper article from a May 22, 1845 New Hampshire newspaper. The article is based on an actual interview with Ona. How exciting to come face-to-face with the actual words of Ona Judge.

     Dunbar and Van Cleeve go deeper into the nature of historical thinking. As I mentioned, the authors share traditional elements of American history, but Ona Judge’s life is the main story. The reader starts to see the perspectives left out of the traditional American narrative, generating more lenses with which to see the development of the country, and forcing us to ask why Ona Judge’s story was buried until now. This is a book that teaches us about the notion of multiple perspective. This readiness to confront readers with complicated ideas, including the way historians think and the notion of multiple perspective, elevates this book.

     As a former teacher, I see a rich classroom discussion growing from the ideas Dunbar and Van Cleve hand the reader. The book allows us to ask some critical questions about American history. One, of course, stands out: How does our view of the nation change when we see its history from the vantage of enslaved people? This push to inquire critically is one of the amazing and important elements of this book.

     Never Caught is narrative nonfiction grounded in plot, character, and setting. The book is what I would term a good read. Dunbar and Van Cleve have a way of bringing people to life, in particular Ona Judge and Martha and George Washington. Beyond just a good tale, Erica Armstrong Dunbar & Kathleen Van Cleve share an important narrative. The reading level is set at an upper elementary and middle-school aged level, but the sophistication of ideas and the compelling story will also draw in young adult and adult readers. I hope this book is widely read and actively discussed.