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roseleaf24's review against another edition
3.0
It's so interesting to me to see what parts of history captivated authors in different times. There were years when children's authors were fascinated by the early frontier days, and this book is yet another book about the days of Donald McKay and clipper ships. It was more engaging than I expected, and also coincides with the Fugitive Slave Law in Boston.
This feels to me like a Yankee response to books like Gone With the Wind and the Confederate sympathy sweeping the country when this book was written. The characters in the book in the side of slavery are the bad guys, and we have the honorable characters acting to hide a man who has escaped slavery. However, that man is treated like a child, and far more concern is given to the consequences to those who helped him in like of three Fugitive Slave Law than is given to what his life will be if he is re-enslaved. In the end, preserving the union is seen to be the best way to proceed. It did give interesting insight into the pressure northern businessmen were under to continue to support slavery in order to continue their own business.
This feels to me like a Yankee response to books like Gone With the Wind and the Confederate sympathy sweeping the country when this book was written. The characters in the book in the side of slavery are the bad guys, and we have the honorable characters acting to hide a man who has escaped slavery. However, that man is treated like a child, and far more concern is given to the consequences to those who helped him in like of three Fugitive Slave Law than is given to what his life will be if he is re-enslaved. In the end, preserving the union is seen to be the best way to proceed. It did give interesting insight into the pressure northern businessmen were under to continue to support slavery in order to continue their own business.
triscuit807's review
3.0
Solid 3 stars. If there were more romance, this would be classified as a young adult today; even so, the age of the young protagonist puts it solidly into that category. This is an historical novel from 1933 written about the advent of the clipper ships in the "California trade"; the Flying Cloud mentioned in the novel set a speed record that lasted from 1854-1989. The other important historical detail was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. These two detail intertwine to form the core of the novel which follows the orphan John Seagrave, a clerk in a counting house, as he makes his way in Boston. There are encounters with ship builders, abolitionists, and a runaway slave. I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and my Newbery Challenge (Honor Book, 1934).
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