From 1846 to 1857, Dred Scott tried to get courts to recognize his right to freedom. His lawyers argued that since he had spent considerable time in free states he ought to be free, according to the Missouri Compromise. Lower courts went back and forth in a series of cases and appeals, and in 1857, in Scott v. Sanford, Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney read a 50-page, two-hour decision stating that African-Americans were not citizens and had no rights. Dred Scott remained a slave until a new owner granted him his freedom shortly thereafter. Moses’s fictional slave narrative is an important work that gives voice to a pivotal American, whose case edged the nation closer to war. However, Scott’s narrative voice seems disembodied; there’s too little character development and historical context to make Dred Scott seem like a real person. Much is told, but there’s no drama in the telling. Christensen’s illustrations aptly complement the text, and the foreword by the great-grandson of Dred Scott will remind readers of Dred Scott’s legacy. (author’s note, the impact of the decision, chronology, bibliography) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-85975-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2004
An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-395-53680-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.
Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-88083-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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