Andrea Cheng examines the life of Dave the Potter (who took the name David Drake after the Civil War ended) through a verse novel that tells his powerful, poignant story of endurance, artistry, and rebellion. Cheng's poems reveal Dave's hunger for words and learning and self-expression, and the pain of living in slavery. He was trained by and worked for Pottersville Stoneware in Edgefield, South Carolina, where founder Abner Landrum developed unique glazes. Dave later worked for Landrum's brother and nephew, Lewis Miles, a kind man who nonetheless did not think to free Dave. Dave endured multiple, lifelong separations from people he loved: his first wife, Eliza; his second wife, Lydia; and Lydia's two sons, whom he had taught to read. The poems are in the voices of these and other individuals, all listed in a cast of characters near the beginning of the volume. Cheng incorporates some of the inscriptions Dave carved into his pots into her poems, and the novel as a whole gives a context for those words, showing them as a form of rebellion. Lovely, occasional black-and-white woodcut prints punctuate a work that includes back matter with more information on Dave and his poems and pottery in Edgefield, South Carolina. Cheng talks about her interest in Dave in an author's note that precedes her list of sources. (Age 11 and older)

The acclaimed biography-in-verse about the life and times of Dave, an enslaved potter who inscribed his works with short poems during the years leading up to the Civil War.

Sometime before 1818, an enslaved young man named Dave was brought to Edgefield, in the heart of South Carolina's pottery-producing area. From the time he was first taught to turn a potter's wheel, Dave showed exceptional natural talent. Soon he was creating pieces of great beauty and often massive size. He also learned to read and write, even though South Carolina had laws prohibiting slave literacy. And then Dave did something even more daring: he began to sign his jars and carve many of them with sayings and short poems that reflected his daily life and experiences. With these courageous acts, Dave quietly protested the brutality of slavery and asserted his humanity.

Here is an evocative portrait of Dave as memorable as one of his jars. Through simple yet powerful poetry, including some of Dave's inscriptions, we learn his extraordinary story of perseverance, creative inspiration, and hope. Today Dave's legacy lives on in the artistry of his pottery, in his intriguing words, and as a reminder of the dignity and resilience of the human spirit.