Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to provide input! There is no clear
consensus, but here is everyone's thoughtful responses.
Evie Kremyar, Teacher Librarian
Seton Catholic School
6923 Stow Road
Hudson, Ohio 44236
(330) 342-4200 X228
kremyare@setoncatholicschool.org<mailto:kremyare@setoncatholicschool.org>
"At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that
magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better."
Barack Obama
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We have this in the biography section of our library. Many bibliographic
references recommend this placement as well as in the nonfiction area of history.
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The following link (http://www.amosfortune.com/life.html) has a bit of information
on the book at the bottom of the screen that may be helpful to you.
*********************************
My copy is in the biography section as well. 974.4 corresponds to a specific state
(Mass.), so that would explain that part, I guess.
Remember that Dewey doesn't have a specific section for biography, but puts it
where it would fit otherwise.
As for where to put it, that's up to you. If a common assignment is to read about
an African American, then you might want to pull all such books together, at least
for the duration of the assignment. If biographies are common, then having a
separate biography section makes sense. If not, put them with their regular subject
(biographies of baseball players would be with other baseball books).
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It is actually fictionalized biography along the lines of the old Cornelia Meigs'
title Invincible Louisa. There are a number of other titles in biography that
would more correctly be placed in fiction, so if you feel strongly move it.
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I have skimmed it in the past and it is in the Childhood of Famous Americans/Laura
Ingalls Wilder vein of 'based on real events' but most fiction.
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I don't exactly have insight, but I do have some experience. I wondered about Amos
Fortune for years, keeping it in fiction because that's where I found it 30+ years
ago. But I kept wondering, and trying to figure out what it should be. My wondering
ended when my school closed. I work in a public school now and Amos is in their
catalog as biography. This is how the book is described in our catalog:
The life of the eighteenth-century African prince who, after being captured by
slave traders, was brought to Massachusetts where he was a slave until he was able
to buy his freedom at the age of sixty.
So, what to do? Have you ever tried to search the name in any of the scholarly
databases? I haven't, though you have me thinking about it now, so I probably will
soon. Meanwhile, maybe she could choose another name?
*********************************
The Library of Congress catalog record does NOT say anything about it being
fiction. The 082 field shows 326.92. And two of the subject heading specifically
say Biography. None of them say juvenile fiction, though they do say juvenile
literature.
WorldCat lists it as Biography.
Several Google links for study guides refer to it as a novel, or historical
fiction. But those aren't necessarily correct. I would trust the Library of
Congress .
Fooled me - I thought it was a novel!
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