slavery – Peaceful Reader

29 days of book love…

This book has been a favorite of mine for years. An organization in Little Rock gave me a copy to use at my library there and I fell in love with this special biography about Henry Brown.

He story begins:

“Henry Brown wasn’t sure how old he was, Henry was a slave. And slaves weren’t allowed to know their birthdays.” This intrigues kids right away because they want to know why? I answer honestly that it kept them “less than human” to the slaveholders.

Very quickly we learn that Henry’s master is dying and instead of freeing him on his deathbed he “gives” Henry to his son. He is still young and yet is torn from his mother and family. His new master owns a factory and Henry works there steadily but unhappily. Eventually in town he meets another slave named Nancy and they fall in love and get permission to marry. They have a few children and life seems good enough until Nancy’s master sells her and the children away from Henry.

He spends many weeks mourning his family and then he makes a decision. He will do what he can to be free. His plan…he sends himself to freedom in a box (a large wooden crate). Henry in the box takes a pretty incredible journey north. Thus proving people enslaved will go to great lengths to experience freedom.

The watercolor illustrations by the fabulous Kadir Nelson are beautifully done. Thanks to Ellen Levine for bringing this story to young readers.

Mysterious Civil War Read

The Mirk and Midnight Hour

Jane Nickerson

March/2014

Alfred A. Knopf

I plucked this one from a box of ARCs offered to me by a local bookseller because the cover looked enchanting and a little scary. I’m not one for scary really but this looked like the good kind. Seventeen-year old Violet Dancey has been left behind, first by her twin brother Rush and then later, by her father. Rush died in battle and Violet is still in mourning. The whole town is wearing black for someone lost in the war.

Before Violet’s father leaves he marries a local widow with a teenage daughter so Violet will not be left alone. Soon after two cousins come to visit and she has plenty to keep her busy on the farm. One afternoon she takes her young cousin Seeley off to a deserted cabin where she played as a child with Laney and Rush and she and Seeley discover a nearly dead Union soldier tucked into a back room. Thomas has been rescued and kept alive as someone is tending to his wounds but he’s been left in this cabin for weeks. The mystery behind Thomas and the VanZelts and Dorian (the older cousin) and Sunny (Violet’s new stepsister) make this book filled with adventure.

The first chapters started a little slow yet we discover a lot between the relationship of Violet and Laney. Raised on the farm with just one slave, Laney’s mother, Violet has a very different view of slavery. Laney and Violet are best friends and constant companions even as Laney is now the cook and her husband tends to the fields. Violet’s relaxed idea of what a housemaid should do gets her into trouble with Sunny who adores the idea of having one’s own slave. This book is a new glimpse into the Civil War and its many tragedies.

I put Nickerson’s other book Strands of Bronze and Gold on my to-read list. Nickerson, once a children’s librarian in Mississippi, now resides in Canada.

Forge (2010) by Laurie Halse Anderson

Did you read Chains (2008) by Halse Anderson?
Oh, it was a good read! I liked it because it was a serious look at the Revolutionary War through the eyes of Isabel, a slave. What a perfect paradox: Americans fighting for their freedom from King George while enslaving Africans into intense labor.

Good Reads Summary:

In this compelling sequel to Chains, a National Book Award Finalist and winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson shifts perspective from Isabel to Curzon and brings to the page the tale of what it takes for runaway slaves to forge their own paths in a world of obstacles—and in the midst of the American Revolution.
The Patriot Army was shaped and strengthened by the desperate circumstances of the Valley Forge winter. This is where Curzon the boy becomes Curzon the young man. In addition to the hardships of soldiering, he lives with the fear of discovery, for he is an escaped slave passing for free. And then there is Isabel, who is also at Valley Forge—against her will. She and Curzon have to sort out the tangled threads of their friendship while figuring out what stands between the two of them and true freedom.

My thoughts: I have to admit at first I was a bit disappointed with the heavy focus on Curzon and all the fighting. I missed Isabel’s character and the mystery and intrigue of the first book, but as I kept reading I enjoyed learning about the Valley Forge experience. I did not know, for example, that the soldiers had to build their own cabins in the snow. Curzon’s story follows the battles closely and they end up at Valley Forge. He is constantly tormented by some of his fellow soldiers and yet, remarkably, he manages to maintain his dignity throughout. Thankfully Isabel eventually comes back into Curzon’s life, demonstrating how tenous life is for both of them, rounding the story out nicely for me.
This is a perfect book to help young people understand the horrors of war, slavery and the importance of friendship throughout adversity. I’m now anxiously awaiting the third installment, Ashes , in Halse Anderson’s Seeds of American series.

Some books I have to really search for the perfect quote to share, not so with Halse Anderson’s work because every page has something worth sharing.

Random Quote:

The last lad was John Burns. His rude manner declared him my enemy the first time he clapped eyes on me. Burns had white skin that turned red when he was angry (a frequent condition), dirt-colored hair that never stayed tied back in a queue, and small eyes like a badger’s that were forever seeking a way to avoid work. He spat at my feet whenever I walked by. He accused me of stealing my new hat. He said the crudest kinds of things about my parents and grandparents, and he convinced the Barry brothers to join him in his foulness. (54)

Read Abby (the) Librarian”s review.
Find the author’s website and blog here-Laurie Halse Anderson
Enjoy this great article (Publishers Weekly/Shelf Talker) about a school visit

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