The Slave Dancer (1974)

The Slave Dancer is not a happy book.  It is the story of 13-year-old Jessie Bollier who, kidnapped by sailors from the slaving ship The Moonlight, is forced to play his fife to make music for the slaves to dance to during the dreaded "Middle Passage." Taken from his mother and sister in New Orleans, Jessie must learn to cope with the rigors of sea life on a slave ship: storms, hunger, thirst, violence, terror. And that is before the slaves are taken on board.

Since the slave trade was illegal, they were brought to the ship in the middle of the night.  The black men, women and children were brought aboard off the coast of Africa and forced into the hold, where they were kept in an unbelievably harsh, filthy, smelly, awful condition. Every day, some were brought to the deck and forced to dance to "keep up their strength." 

Then, when they were within sight of Cuba and almost through with their trip, the slave broker even on the ship, disaster strikes.  An American ship comes near and boats make ready to board The Moonlight.  In his panic and desire to not be caught, the captain orders all evidence of slaves thrown overboard, including the slaves.  Jessie watches helplessly as they are forced overboard to their death.  (Sharks have been following the ship.)  He is able to get one boy about his age safely into the hold and then a storm hits the ship.

The storm rages for several days and the two boys alone in the hold manage to survive, while the men above are all swept into the sea.  The boat lodges on a reef off of Mississippi and they swim to shore and meet an old escaped slave, who feeds and shelters them until they are strong enough to get on.  The slave boy, Ras, is led to the North, and Jessie returns home.  Changed forever.

Some quotes:

Jessie's mother had sent him on an errand one evening and he took the long way home.  "My mother...had asked me to promise her I would never enter a tavern or mingle with the nightly throngs on Bourbon and Royal Streets.  By keeping to these narrow byways, I avoided breaking the promise but still had the diversion of hearing from over the rooftops the rumble and rise and fall of men's voices, the bird shrieks of women, laughter and the shouts of quarrels." (p. 12)  It was on this longer way home, when he knew he shouldn't be there, that Jessie was kidnapped.

On becoming aware he was on a ship.  "The first object my eyes rested upon was crawling idly along my leg as though I was a yard of bread.  The insect was no stranger to me for we had them in all sizes at home.  But I'd never thought a cockroach was a sea-going creature.  I didn't care for the breed.  Still, I found it a touch comforting that such a familiar land thing was making itself at home on me." (p. 25)

The first time Jessie had to play for the slaves.  "We had formed a circle around them, dressed, shod, most of us armed.  Many of them were naked; a few had ragged bits of cloth around their waists.  I glanced at the sailors.  Ned's eyes were turned upward toward heaven.  I supposed he was reporting to God on the folly of everyone else but himself.  But the rest were staring fixedly at the slaves.  I felt fevered and agitated.  I sensed, I saw, how beyond the advantage we had of weapons, their nakedness made them helpless.  Even if we had not been armed, our clothes and boots alone would have given us power." (p. 65-66)

Fox, Paula.  The Slave Dancer.  Dell Publishing, 1973.

Julie of the Wolves (1973

I'm finding this one a bit harder to write about.  I liked Julie of the Wolves.  In some ways it was a female version of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, in that one lone teen must survive the wilderness with limited tools.  But this book has much richer and deeper meaning woven through out.

In the first part of the book, entitled Amaroq the wolf, we first meet Julie, although she prefers her Eskimo name, Miyax.  She is half starved, living on the North Slope in Alaska, hoping to receive help from a pack of wolves she befriends.  She recalls the time she spent at seal camp with her father, Kapugen, and the things he taught her about nature and surviving.  It is very interesting learning about wolf behavior and how she learns to communicate in "wolf," and what she does to survive the harsh climate.

In part two, Miyax the girl, we learn how Miyax came to be alone in the wilderness, relying on wolves.  Her mother had died when she was very young.  In his grief, Kapugen had retreated with Miyax to seal camp, isolated from civilization (as we know it).  But eventually it found him in the form of Aunt Martha, who insisted on Miyax returning with her to go to school.  Kapugen arranged a marriage for her, when she came of age at 13, to his partner's son in Barrow.  When she found life intolerable with her aunt she accepted the marriage arrangement and flew to Barrow, only to find that the son, Daniel, "has a few problems, but he's a very good boy, and he's a good worker...He will be like a brother to you," says his mother. (p. 92) 

For a year all is well, until Daniel gets teased about not being able to "mate" his own wife and a very short try at forcing the issue frightens Miyax so much that she gathers her supplies and flees into the wilderness planning to make her way to San Fransisco, where she has a pen pal who has repeatedly invited her to come live.

The third part of the book, Kapugen the hunter, really talks about not just her father, but about the whole way of life of the Eskimo and the changes overtaking their society.  Miyax has to decide whether to remain Miyax the Eskimo girl, or to become Julie.

George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. HarperCollins, 1972.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1972)

I really enjoyed this one.  Mrs. Frisby is the widowed mouse of Mr. Jonathon Frisby.  Timothy, her youngest son, has been very sick.  Mr. Ages, a mouse who is intelligent well beyond what a mouse should be, has given her medicine for Timothy, but said he should not be moved from their winter home in the farmer's garden to their summer home by the creek as his body is still too weak and it is still too cold at night.

Her new friend, Jeremy the crow, takes her to see the owl, whom all the crows go to for advice. Jeremy flies her to the owl's tree, and, though terrified to approach the owl, Mrs. Frisby does so for the sake of her family.  After telling the owl of her predicament, he tells her that he cannot help her.  But when he learns that she is the widow of Jonathon Frisby, he becomes very interested and tells her to visit the rats in the rosebush.  She is to ask to speak to Nicodemus.

So her adventure continues.  She learns of human experimentation on rats, and a few mice (including her husband) which gave them great longevity and human intelligence. The rats have a plan to move to a valley and develop a society independent of human technology.

I think children would really like this one.  A good storyline, characters and also some things to think about:  experimenting on animals, living on "borrowed" light, loyalty, courage, friendship.  No quotes jumped out at me as I read, but it was well-written.  Enjoy!

O'Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Simon & Schuster, 1971.

The Summer of the Swans (1971)

(Just as an aside, this book was written the year I was born.)

This was the worst summer ever! According to 14-year-old Sara.  She is gong through the very self-conscious time of early teen hood. She and her older sister and younger brother have been raised by her aunt since her mother died and her father lives several hours away.  She doesn't think her father really cares about them.  Also, her wants are often put aside for her special needs brother, Charlie. Charlie is mostly non-verbal and has the mental capacity of a young child, but physically functions fine.

One day swans come to the lake near their home and they go to see them.  Charlie is fascinated by the swans and doesn't want to leave when it is time to go. That night Charlie gets up and decides to go see the swans, but gets lost on the way. 

Sara, although often frustrated by Charlie, has a special bond with him and knows he is in trouble.  The police are called in, search parties form and fan out.  But it is Sara who finds Charlie late that afternoon. 

Quotes:
Sara's older sister trying to get her to not obsess about her appearance.  "I have perfectly terrible hands--look at my fingers--only I don't go around all the time saying, 'Everybody, look at my stubby fingers, I have stubby fingers, everybody,' to make people notice.  You should just ignore things that are wrong with you.  The truth is everyone else is so worried about what's wrong with them..." (p. 3)

"A picture came into her mind of the laughing, curly-headed man with the broken tooth in the photograph album, and she suddenly saw life as a series of huge, uneven steps, and she saw herself on the steps,...and she had just taken an enormous step up out of the shadows, and she was standing, waiting, and there were other steps in front of her, so that she could go as high as the sky, and she saw Charlie on a flight of small difficult steps, and her father down at the bottom of some steps, just sitting and not trying to go further.  She saw everyone she knew on those blinding white steps and for a moment everything was clearer than it had ever been." (p. 128)

Byars, Betsy.  The Summer of the Swans.  Puffin Books, 1970. 

Sounder (1970)

 



Sounder was a great coon dog whose voice boomed across the night when he and his master caught something.  But one cold season, no game was to be found.  Times were very hard for a sharecropper.  Night after night the man came home empty handed to his hungry wife and children.  Then one morning the children woke to the smell of ham frying.

 

The boy, oldest child, worries that something isn't right when he notices his mother humming tight-lipped, rather than singing. He was right to worry as later that night the sheriff and deputies come and arrest his father, and in the process, Sounder is shot.  The boy's mother doesn't think Sounder will live, but he does, missing a leg and an ear, and never again using the great booming sound he was known for.

 

Sounder tells the story of the boy as he searches for his father among work gangs, coming home to work in the fields when he can.  But the boy longs for more.  He wants to read.  Not just shop window signs, but books and stories and the Bible.  He knows the power of words.  In one of his journeys he meets a kind school teacher who takes him in, sees the thirst for knowledge this boy has and offers to teach him.

 

After many years, when the boy is home working one summer, the boy and his mother see a figure approaching in the distance.  The man is disfigured, dragging one leg, shoulder hunched.  But Sounder runs out to him, making his voice ring.  His master had finally come home.

 

I enjoyed reading Sounder.  It didn't take long, but left me feeling a mixture of sadness and hope.  One thing that is kind of odd about this book is that none of the human characters are named.  Just Sounder. 

 

A couple of quotes:

 

"He wished his mother or father could read.  And if they had a book, he would hold the lamp by the chair so they could see the words and never get tired. "One day I will learn to read," he said to himself.  He would have a book with stories in it, then he wouldn't be lonesome even if his mother didn't sing." (p. 18)

 

"He had learned to read his book with the torn cover better now.  He had read in it: "Only the unwise think that what has changed is dead." He had asked the teacher what it meant, and the teacher had said that if a flower blooms once, it goes on blooming somewhere forever.  It blooms on for whoever has seen it blooming.  It was not quite clear to the boy the, but it was now." (p. 114)

 

Armstrong, William, H.  Sounder.  HarperCollins, 1969.

The High King (1969)

The High King is the fifth and last book in the Chronicles of Prydain.  As such I felt that I was a little behind the curve even though the author writes in his author's note, "Like the previous tales, this adventure can be read independently of the others.  Nevertheless, certain long-standing questions are resolved here." (p. 7)  At first it was difficult getting into the story because I felt that I was missing a lot not having read the others first. (I have actually read all of them, but it has been about 14 years and I really only remembered the very basics of the storyline.) Once I got past that, it was very enjoyable reading.

The story centers on Taran, assistant pig-keeper to Hen Wen, a pig who foretells the future.  In the previous books he met and travelled with many characters, many of whom appear in this book.  Eilonwy, princess and love interest.  Gurgi, some sort of creature, not brave, but super loyal.  Dallben, Taran's teacher, enchanter, owner of Hen Wen.  Fflewdddur Flam, harp wielding minor king of a nearby land.  And many more.

And of course, there is Arawn, the Death Lord with his Cauldron born army of undead soldiers.  The battle against whom does not go well while there is infighting amongst the lesser kings. 

I will leave it to you to find out how the battles were fought and lost and won.  What happens when Taran has to make the most crucial of decisions.  How Eilonwy gives up her one treasure for something of far greater worth.

Quotes I liked.  Many have to do with leadership.

Taran went to gather troops.  One group responded, "Our pride is not in fighting but in farming; in the work of our hands, not our blades.  Never have we sought war.  We come now to the banner of the White Pig because it is the banner of our friend, Taran Wanderer." (p. 122)

"It is harsh enough for each man to bear his own wound.  But he who leads bears the wounds of all who follow him." (p. 129)

"There are those who must first learn loss, despair, and grief.  Of all paths to wisdom, this is the cruelest and longest...Those who reach the end do more than gain wisdom.  As rough wool becomes cloth, and crude clay a vessel, so do they change and fashion wisdom for others, and what they give back is greater than what they won." (p. 142)

"Is there worse evil than that which goes in the mask of good?" (p. 148)

"A grower of turnips or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king--every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone.  Once you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding.  So, too, must the striving count more than the gain." (p. 292)

"Do you believe evil itself to be so quickly overcome?  Not so long as men still hate and slay each other, when greed and anger goad them.  Against these even a flaming sword cannot prevail, but only that portion of good in all men's hearts whose flame can never be quenched." (p. 300)

Alexander, Lloyd.  The High King.  Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1968.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968)

Claudia feels unappreciated at home.  She has to do more chores than her brothers, look after kids and finally decides she has had enough.  But she doesn't do the typical run-away-from-home.  She plans and saves and bides her time.  She invites her brother, Jamie, to run away with her (mostly because he has more money than she does) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Everything goes as planned and they hide out in the museum.  They learn the routines of the guards, know when to wait in a bathroom stall until it is all clear, get to sleep in big antique beds.  They discover bathing in the fountain and gather money people have thrown in to use for food. 

They try to blend in with other school groups on tours in the museum.  "They learned a lot.  They didn't even mind. They were surprised that they could actually learn something when they weren't in class." (p. 54)

Their plan gets a kink thrown in when the children see a statue that the museum had recently acquired from Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  Claudia falls in love with it and feels that it is her special mission to discover who actually sculpted it.  The siblings visit a library and study up on Renaissance sculptors. They do everything they can to figure it out.  Finally, Claudia decides they have to go visit Mrs. Frankweiler, positive that she holds the answer. The book is actually "written" by Mrs. Frankweiler, as she retells the tale the children have recounted to her.  I will leave it to you to find out who the sculptor was.

I remember reading and liking this book a lot as a child. It was full of adventure and mystery.  As an adult and parent I would only hope that it wouldn't give my children any grand ideas about running away, even if it is planned so well.

Some favorite quotes.

Mrs. F, to Claudia.  "Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough.  Except the part you carry with you.  It's the same as going on a vacation.  Some people spend all their time on a vacation taking pictures so that when they get home they can show their friends evidence that they had a good time.  They don't pause to let the vacation enter inside of them and take that home." (p. 139-140)

"Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around." (p. 151)

"Some days you must learn a great deal.  But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything.  And you can feel it inside you.  If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you.  You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them.  It's hollow." (p. 153)

Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1967.