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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Max and Oliver read this for school and I read it along with them. Simplistic in its treatment of race and a bit preachy, but adequate for middle school history/literature.
Non-fiction that reads like Fiction.
I would recommend this to those who like Laurie Halse Anderson's "Chains" & "Forge"
as a true account of Northern slavery in the Revolutionary Era.
I would recommend this to those who like Laurie Halse Anderson's "Chains" & "Forge"
as a true account of Northern slavery in the Revolutionary Era.
We listened to the audible version by Roslyn Ruff, which apparently is more interesting than the one by the male reader. I quite enjoyed her reading of it and felt it added richness to the story.
As for the story itself, I enjoyed it in spite of some inconsistencies. I felt like the book spoke more to me as an adult than it did to my children. At times I wondered if I would really characterize it as a “children’s book” at all except for it being short.
As for the story itself, I enjoyed it in spite of some inconsistencies. I felt like the book spoke more to me as an adult than it did to my children. At times I wondered if I would really characterize it as a “children’s book” at all except for it being short.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is one of the best books I’ve had to read for school. A wonderful quote is “it does a man no good to be free until he knows how to live, how to walk in step with God.”
Not a bad read, and not as racist as I anticipated a book on a black slave to be when written in the 1950s. What his book lacked, however, was detail. We got only the basics on the life of Amos Fortune, the bare bones of his story, and I would have liked to know more about him. The book tended to skim from one large even to the other, leaving something to be desired. However, not bad overall.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery
I have to start by saying I do not recommend this book.
I’ve been focusing on reading more books by diverse authors and books with POCs as the main character. This came up on our library’s Black History Month list, and though a novel for younger readers, I was interested in learning about someone I didn’t know.
Amos Fortune was an African prince who was taken from his home, brought to America, and sold into slavery. He worked hard to buy his own freedom and later the the freedom of several others.
Unfortunately,this book makes his time in slavery seem not that bad and almost as if he was lucky a nice Christian family purchased him. We all know slavery was horrific and seeing it portrayed this way isn’t true to history or Amos’ story. While this is a book for young readers, we must do better to educate children with the truth and not a watered down version that makes us feel better.
I highly encourage everyone to learn more about Amos Fortune and other heroes of Black History.
I’ve been focusing on reading more books by diverse authors and books with POCs as the main character. This came up on our library’s Black History Month list, and though a novel for younger readers, I was interested in learning about someone I didn’t know.
Amos Fortune was an African prince who was taken from his home, brought to America, and sold into slavery. He worked hard to buy his own freedom and later the the freedom of several others.
Unfortunately,this book makes his time in slavery seem not that bad and almost as if he was lucky a nice Christian family purchased him. We all know slavery was horrific and seeing it portrayed this way isn’t true to history or Amos’ story. While this is a book for young readers, we must do better to educate children with the truth and not a watered down version that makes us feel better.
I highly encourage everyone to learn more about Amos Fortune and other heroes of Black History.
I was hoping for more from this book, especially since it is still fairly widely read and assigned as a Newbery. For its time, I'm sure this book was tremendously important and maybe even progressive. But now it seems so domesticated, watered-down, and pandering to a white audience.
Amos as a character is extremely compelling, and it is rare that you read a children's book where the main character is an old man for most of the story. The details about 18th-century African American life and trades like tanning were interesting. I also really appreciated the lack of dialect in this book; this may be the first Newbery with a black character where that character doesn't constantly say "lawsy me" and other such nonsense.
However, this book is so full of platitudes for appeasing and justifying the white audience that it's hard to bear. Even Amos himself spends a lot of time telling other characters that "if you just give someone their freedom, they won't know what to do with it." The unhealthy patriarchal relationship between white "savior" and slave is glorified to the utmost here. And this book is not frank enough about the realities of the treatment that slaves suffered at the hands of their oppressors. Overall, disappointing, and probably not progressive enough to carry forward into the future.
Amos as a character is extremely compelling, and it is rare that you read a children's book where the main character is an old man for most of the story. The details about 18th-century African American life and trades like tanning were interesting. I also really appreciated the lack of dialect in this book; this may be the first Newbery with a black character where that character doesn't constantly say "lawsy me" and other such nonsense.
However, this book is so full of platitudes for appeasing and justifying the white audience that it's hard to bear. Even Amos himself spends a lot of time telling other characters that "if you just give someone their freedom, they won't know what to do with it." The unhealthy patriarchal relationship between white "savior" and slave is glorified to the utmost here. And this book is not frank enough about the realities of the treatment that slaves suffered at the hands of their oppressors. Overall, disappointing, and probably not progressive enough to carry forward into the future.
Racist, religious drivel. I read this along with a bunch of 6th graders and I was pretty uncomfortable having them read such nonsense. I read quite a bit aloud and HATED saying things like "heathen blacks" and "negroes." I don't suggest anyone, especially a child, ever read this book.
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced