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A review by _basicbookworm
African Town by Charles Waters, Irene Latham
4.0
This a a powerful novel written in verse about the last Africans illegally brought to American as slaves in 1860. African Town follows the journey from the ship to be enslaved, to freedom where they settled in a community they called African Town. This book has 14 POVs - all based on real life people.
This is such an important topic, and I love that it was written in a way that also makes it accessible to a younger audience - I can see this book being an integral part of high school classroom libraries and discussions. While there is much heartache and struggle that goes with telling this story, this book is also one filled with hope. I loved how intentional the authors were - even determining what style of poetry would be used to each character and providing an explanation for why they chose to write that character in that way. It was clear this book was well-researched and written with intention. My only hesitation with this book is that of the two authors, one is Black and one is white, neither of them are descendants from the survivors. While they do share additional resources, I have seen many reviews wondering if this was their story to tell or if it would be better told by someone with a more direct connection, especially since there are not yet many books on this topic. That being said, this is such an important topic and this book was eye-opening in many ways.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
This is such an important topic, and I love that it was written in a way that also makes it accessible to a younger audience - I can see this book being an integral part of high school classroom libraries and discussions. While there is much heartache and struggle that goes with telling this story, this book is also one filled with hope. I loved how intentional the authors were - even determining what style of poetry would be used to each character and providing an explanation for why they chose to write that character in that way. It was clear this book was well-researched and written with intention. My only hesitation with this book is that of the two authors, one is Black and one is white, neither of them are descendants from the survivors. While they do share additional resources, I have seen many reviews wondering if this was their story to tell or if it would be better told by someone with a more direct connection, especially since there are not yet many books on this topic. That being said, this is such an important topic and this book was eye-opening in many ways.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy.