Accelerated Reader Program Selection
"Pittman knows how to keep history alive."
Jim Limber Davis was rescued from an abusive guardian by First Lady Varina Davis when he was only five years old. Jefferson and Varina Davis then became his legal guardians, and Jim lived with them in the Confederate White House for several years, enjoying life as a member of their family.
When Union soldiers invaded Richmond, Virginia, and captured Jefferson Davis, they also kidnapped Jim Limber. Soon after his capture, cruel rumors spread that Jim was Jefferson Davis's slave. After the Civil War, Davis tried to locate Jim, but he was never found.
This true story shows how Jim Limber was accepted as one of the Davis's own children and reveals their love for him. Although Jim's whereabouts after the war still remain a mystery, the story offers an example of compassion during this complex time in our nation's history.
About the Author
Rickey Pittman, 1998 grand prize winner of the prestigious Ernest Hemingway Short Story Competition, is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp Thomas McGuire, in West Monroe, Louisiana. He is also a Civil War re-enactor, a public speaker on issues and topics related to the War Between the States, and a musician who travels and performs original and Civil War-period music. He lives with his wife in Monroe, Louisiana, where he works as a freelance writer and editor.
About the Illustrator
Judith Hierstein resides in Tucson, Arizona, where she teaches art at the elementary-school level. She holds a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Iowa and is the illustrator of the Pelican children's books Toby Belfer Never Had a Christmas Tree, Toby Belfer's Seder: A Passover Story Retold, Toby Belfer and the High Holy Days, Toby Belfer Visits Ellis Island, and The Pilgrims' Thanksgiving from A to Z.
JIM LIMBER DAVIS
A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House
By Rickey Pittman
Illustrated By Judith
32 pp. 8½ x 11 31 color illus. Ages 5-8