A beautiful, heartbreaking tale of slavery that features a relatable cast of characters.
Peacock (A Broom of One’s Own, 2008) offers a tragic love story set in 19th-century America.
Imprisoned and condemned former slave Persimmon “Persy” Wilson tells his story in his own words in this historical novel. It begins in 1875 long after Persy has been separated from his family and purchased by landowner Joseph Wilson to work on a Louisiana sugar cane plantation. On the journey there, Persy meets the love of his life: the fair-skinned Chloe. She’s destined for work as a house slave and to care for Wilson’s sickly wife. Before long, Master Wilson repeatedly rapes her. Persy and Chloe meet in secret, dreaming of the day they’ll be able to escape the plantation. The Civil War and the approach of Union troops leads Master Wilson to move his household across the river and into Texas. Wilson shoots Persy and leaves him for dead, but Persy manages to survive. Persy quickly glosses over his time in the Union Army and picks up his narrative as he ventures into Texas on a desperate search for Chloe. He’s captured by a tribe of Comanche Indians, whom he eventually joins. Persy’s story is moving and eloquent, and he tells it in a simple but literary style. His life is filled with strife, and although readers know from the very first sentence what this man’s fate will be (“I have been to hangings before, but never my own”), they’ll still root for him and the woman he loves. The author’s descriptions of day-to-day life in the different places Persy resides are full of rich, well-researched details (“Salt licks and bee caves….Canyons and cap rock and limestone ridges”) that bring the story to life. The novel covers a span of several years; some of them take up 50 or more pages, and others merit no more than a few. However, this device allows the story to move quickly along, and it makes sense that Persy, writing the story from his prison cell as he awaits execution, might skip over some less-important parts.
A beautiful, heartbreaking tale of slavery that features a relatable cast of characters.Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9884164-3-7
Page Count: 342
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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