This is the story of Amari, a 15-year-old girl living happily with her family in Africa and looking forward to marrying her beloved Besa soon. Amari’s life is devastated in an instant when a group of white slave traders invade her peaceful village, killing many of her neighbors and all of her family as she watches in horror. Amari goes through the next few weeks in a haze as she is prepared for the long journey across the sea to America where she is sold into slavery, all the while reeling from her tremendous loss of family and homeland.
Draper’s work of historic fiction is readable for younger students, but the subject matter is probably best suited for the upper level of middle readers, mainly because of the violent nature of what Amari experiences. She is raped aboard the ship, though Draper implies the attacks without describing them. The plantation owner who buys her labels her as a birthday gift for his teenage son, and she is further abused (again, the reader infers the abuse). Amari, a sweet and obedient girl, gets along well with the other slaves and even forms an unlikely friendship with a white indentured servant her own age. The two misunderstand and mistrust each other in the beginning, but form a strong bond when they attempt to escape together. Ultimately, this is a hopeful tale and an effective way to impart some of the horrors of this part of the country’s history to young students.
This is an excellent review of a great book. I appreciate your sensitivity to which audience this might be best suited for, too.
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