CHARIOT IN THE SKY

by Arna Bontemps ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1951

The author of The Story of the Negro contributes to the Land of the Free Series a fictional account of the plight of Negro youth in the years during and just after the Civil War, in the South. Young Caleb, a slave in Charleston at the start of the Civil War, is painfully conscious of the pain and humiliation of slavery, although he works in the shop of a kindly tailor, teaches himself to read and write, and lives with his parents. After the bloody years of war are over, although he is subject to difficulties and hardships, the exhilaration of freedom drives him to help in the education and re-habilitation of his people through teaching in spite of the brutality of the Klu Klux Klan, and to his joining the Fisk School's ""Jubilee Singers"". Although the characters seem somewhat sterile and the story stretched to include landmark events, the subject matter should inspire any young person interested in the practical results of the American promise of freedom for all people.

Pub Date: April 30, 1951

ISBN: 0195156587

Page Count: -

Publisher: Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION