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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
You'll never think about sugar the same again after you read Sugar's story. Jewell Parker Rhodes is becoming one of my new favorite authors for tween fiction! Wonderfully researched, and with a spunky heroine named Sugar, this book is a winner.
An interesting story, set in reconstruction in a sugar plantation in Louisiana. Short chapters, interspersed with woodcuts, and the first book I've ever seen that talks about the Chinese workers who were brought in to cut cane after slavery was abolished. Sugar is a child without a family, cared for by the other freed slaves who staff the plantation. She's a strong character, and she refuses to be bound into a place -- she wants to see the world, she wants to make friends with the owner's son Billy and the new Chinese workers, she wants to find a path that doesn't harm her caretakers, the Beales.
Sugar is 10, an orphan and although she is not longer a slave, she sure doesn't feel free. She has lived on the River Road plantation where they grow sugar cane in Louisiana her whole life, but she really just wants to go north and see what the world is about.
It is 1870 and reconstruction is in full swing and things are changing, or so says Mr. Wills, owner of the plantation. Sugar is secretly friends with his son, Billy, who tells her that his father has now hired some Chinese men to come and work on the plantation. Even though he swears her to secrecy, word gets our and the older former slaves that Sugar lives with are afraid they will be out of a job and their homes, ramshackle shacks though they are.
Sugar is excited when the Chinese workers arrive and is immediately drawn to the youngest of the group (who, although his age isn't given, thought thought was in his teens) who teaches right off the bat her to say hello in Chinese. Although forbidden to go near them by Mister and Missus Beale, her unofficial grandparents, Sugar can't resist and pretty soon has managed to bring Chinese and African Americans together.
It is Mr. Will's hope that his son will on day take over the plantation and so Billy decides to work in the fields to start learning about sugar cane production. And when his mother brings out lemonade and ham stuffed biscuits, the Overseer gets angry because Billy is slowing down production. He and Mr. Wills exchange some heated words and the Overseer is fired. He leaves, vowing revenge.
Times are indeed changing and when the Overseer takes his revenge, the result brings changes for everyone though not what might be expected.
Narrated in the first person by Sugar, she is a sweet, engaging, funny, intelligent, spunky girl who has trouble obeying orders and has a curiosity as big as the world. She wants to be a kid, to play and explore and pretend, but she had to work and that part of her story was hard to read. And she has her own way of looking at things, all told in speech that is clipped in that way I have noticed kids who are always busy and think sometimes speak, almost telegraph style.
And I learned something new. I knew that Chinese immigrants had arrived in this country in the late 1800s but I thought they had mostly settle on the west coast. That they were hired for plantation work after the Civil War and Emancipation was very new to me, but as Sugar tells out, many former slaves went north and workers were needed.
Mr. Will isn't by any means the kindest man in the world, but he does represent those plantation owners (and others) who recognized that things had change and would continue to change. He was the forward looking foil to the Overseer's backward looking character.
Jewell Parker Rhodes, who also wrote the wonderful Ninth Ward, really knows how to convey hard, back-breaking work under a burning sun as well as the piteously poor living conditions that former slaves found themselves in. Freedom clearly does not mean better living conditions. The former slaves were really now working for very little money - hence the Great Migration north. On the other hand, Rhodes can convey the feeling of joy and sense of freedom that flying the first kite Sugar had ever seen brought gave her.
On the whole, Sugar is just the kind of book I would have read and loved when I was around 10-11 years old. BUT...there were some things in the book I find hard to believe as an adult and truly wonder what my 10 year old self would have thought about them. And I would be curious to know how others feel about them.
The one word that kept playing around in my head while I was reading Sugar was fanciful. But in a good way for young readers.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from a friend
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
It is 1870 and reconstruction is in full swing and things are changing, or so says Mr. Wills, owner of the plantation. Sugar is secretly friends with his son, Billy, who tells her that his father has now hired some Chinese men to come and work on the plantation. Even though he swears her to secrecy, word gets our and the older former slaves that Sugar lives with are afraid they will be out of a job and their homes, ramshackle shacks though they are.
Sugar is excited when the Chinese workers arrive and is immediately drawn to the youngest of the group (who, although his age isn't given, thought thought was in his teens) who teaches right off the bat her to say hello in Chinese. Although forbidden to go near them by Mister and Missus Beale, her unofficial grandparents, Sugar can't resist and pretty soon has managed to bring Chinese and African Americans together.
It is Mr. Will's hope that his son will on day take over the plantation and so Billy decides to work in the fields to start learning about sugar cane production. And when his mother brings out lemonade and ham stuffed biscuits, the Overseer gets angry because Billy is slowing down production. He and Mr. Wills exchange some heated words and the Overseer is fired. He leaves, vowing revenge.
Times are indeed changing and when the Overseer takes his revenge, the result brings changes for everyone though not what might be expected.
Narrated in the first person by Sugar, she is a sweet, engaging, funny, intelligent, spunky girl who has trouble obeying orders and has a curiosity as big as the world. She wants to be a kid, to play and explore and pretend, but she had to work and that part of her story was hard to read. And she has her own way of looking at things, all told in speech that is clipped in that way I have noticed kids who are always busy and think sometimes speak, almost telegraph style.
And I learned something new. I knew that Chinese immigrants had arrived in this country in the late 1800s but I thought they had mostly settle on the west coast. That they were hired for plantation work after the Civil War and Emancipation was very new to me, but as Sugar tells out, many former slaves went north and workers were needed.
Mr. Will isn't by any means the kindest man in the world, but he does represent those plantation owners (and others) who recognized that things had change and would continue to change. He was the forward looking foil to the Overseer's backward looking character.
Jewell Parker Rhodes, who also wrote the wonderful Ninth Ward, really knows how to convey hard, back-breaking work under a burning sun as well as the piteously poor living conditions that former slaves found themselves in. Freedom clearly does not mean better living conditions. The former slaves were really now working for very little money - hence the Great Migration north. On the other hand, Rhodes can convey the feeling of joy and sense of freedom that flying the first kite Sugar had ever seen brought gave her.
On the whole, Sugar is just the kind of book I would have read and loved when I was around 10-11 years old. BUT...there were some things in the book I find hard to believe as an adult and truly wonder what my 10 year old self would have thought about them. And I would be curious to know how others feel about them.
The one word that kept playing around in my head while I was reading Sugar was fanciful. But in a good way for young readers.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from a friend
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Far too sugar-coated, unrealistic version of what life was like in the south in the Reconstruction Era.
I devoured this book. The author does a fabulous job of creating a setting that is detailed, realistic, and understandable. Sugar, the main character, is a little spit-fire of a girl who challenges the rules and boundaries of segregation and yet remains lovable and humorous. A terrific read for those trying to gain understanding of the post slavery era. I recommend it for grades 3-4 and up.
adventurous
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Good book. Read it in 2 days to see if it would work for a read aloud with my 8th graders during our unit on reconstruction. It’s definitely a contender. Light, funny, but still details the evils of slavery and the time afterward. Even though the age range is 8-12 I think my 13/14 year olds would really enjoy it. Good stories have no age limit. It also led me to research Chinese workers who were brought into Louisiana at the time which I didn’t know before, which was very interesting. Great middle grade read.
A good introduction to an unrecognized portion of America's immigrant and slavery roots. Good for all ages
This was a good #middlegrade story about Sugar.
She is working on the River Road Plantation in the sugar cane fields of the Reconstruction Era South.
Sugar is told that she is free, but she doesn’t feel it.
This is an inspiring story about forging unpredictable friendships, change, and reckoning.
I have never read any novels that mention bringing in the Chinese to help with harvests even though I am aware of some of that history . I think it was an interesting addition to the narrative.
A #middleschool #librarypatron recommended this book to me after he finished it last week, so I am excited that I can report back to him that I did read this hopeful #bookrec .
“Life’s hard. But you still have to find joy where you can.”
She is working on the River Road Plantation in the sugar cane fields of the Reconstruction Era South.
Sugar is told that she is free, but she doesn’t feel it.
This is an inspiring story about forging unpredictable friendships, change, and reckoning.
I have never read any novels that mention bringing in the Chinese to help with harvests even though I am aware of some of that history . I think it was an interesting addition to the narrative.
A #middleschool #librarypatron recommended this book to me after he finished it last week, so I am excited that I can report back to him that I did read this hopeful #bookrec .
“Life’s hard. But you still have to find joy where you can.”
This book was so refreshing to read. If you are looking for historical fiction on the time after the civil war and want more than just the perspective of a boy that lost a brother to the Yankees and misses his slaves then this book is for you. Sugar, who initially hates her name, is full of spirit and gumption. She is left as a sharecropper watching everyone else "go north" but her adoptive family feels they are too old to make the trip. New workers from China arrive and instead of keeping separate Sugar makes sure to find a friend among the new Chinese. Scenes in this book, like when Sugar corrects the land owners son, Billy, on what to call the Chinese and when Billy reminds his parents that slavery is over and there are no longer slave quarters provide teachable moments for the reader.