My Freedom Belongs to Me: A Rhyming Book About Modern-Day Slavery and Human Trafficking

"But didn't slavery end?"It's the question at the heart of this book - and the answer most children never get.Slavery did not end. It changed shape. Today it can look like a gift with a string attached, a secret, a debt, or a message from someone who isn't who they say they are. Traffickers count on a child having no language for what is happening, and no confidence that they'd be believed if they tried to speak.My Freedom Belongs to Me gives them the language.In gentle, rhyming verse, this book carries young readers from the history of chattel slavery in America to the reality of human trafficking today - naming the tactics plainly, without frightening imagery and without blame. Children learn to recognize warning signs, to trust the feeling in their stomach, and to keep telling grown-ups until someone listens.And it says the thing a child most needs to hear before anything happens, so they can hear it again after: the blame belongs to the person who caused the harm.Inside the book: - A rhyming story tracing the theft of human freedom from the past into the present- Age-appropriate language for grooming, bribes, debt, secrets, and online contact- A glossary of more than twenty terms, including consent, autonomy, exploitation, and trusted adult- Eight discussion questions for families and classrooms- A Note to Trusted Adults from the author- A resource page with national hotlines and reporting toolsWritten by educator and attorney Brandee Blocker Anderson, founder of The Antiracism Academy, for the busy parent and the working educator at the same time - and for every child who deserves the truth in language they can carry.Read it before anything is wrong. Read it more than once.