Jaqueline Battalora (right) holding her book The Xavierite
On Tuesday, April 15, Jacqueline Battalora, Ph.D, M.T.S., J.D., and the Office of Belonging and Engagement hosted an event regarding information on Battalora’s new book, “Lucy: A Girl’s Journey from Indenture to Freedom in Colonial North America.”
Battalora began the event by asking attendees discussion questions regarding when they first learned about Colonial North American history in a school environment. Attendees discussed with one another, then later addressed their answers with all who attended.
Her book was inspired by the true events of a young girl named Lucy’s life and her journey in Colonial North America. Battalora’s book contains 98 pages and is paperback.
The story is considered a young-adult historical fiction, listed as ages eight and up, that explains the story of a young, English girl who was convicted of stealing milk from a farmer, and later on sent to Maryland as an indentured servant, according to Battalora.
Lucy later learns about friendships, how to farm (tobacco), whiteness in America, and more.
The context of the book is targeted towards fifth through seventh graders, which is why she chose manga style for the book’s imagery. The reason for targeting this specific audience was due to her not learning about Colonial North America and slavery until she was older.
Battalora then delved into the reasoning of writing her book, “I wanted to raise the problem with the history that most of us learned, and I want to raise up how it functions today. That history that told us that Columbus was discovered here left out the ways in which Europeans killed and removed indigenous people, so that we could take their land and their resources. The ways in which people of African descent are eliminated as if they weren’t the primary engine that were left of this nation,” she explained.
She also explained the difficulty of attaining information to write her book. “Because of Lucy’s story, I had to gather through oral history, through the family, I had to let people know they could trust me,” she further explained.
The book took her years to write as her “teaching demands are pretty significant to Saint Xavier, so while I’m teaching, I don’t get much research done so it makes it really tough,” she said.
She further explained having a hard time doing any research unless she has more than three hours to do so. “I have a hard time doing anything of quality in less than three hours, so if I don’t have three hours to get started, I can’t do anything.”
Battalora has previously published two other books: “Birth of a White Nation: The Invention of White People and Its Relevance Today” and “Birth of a White Nation, 2nd Edition.”
To purchase “Lucy: A Girl’s Journey from Indenture to Freedom in Colonial North America,” visit Amazon.com.