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Summary
Summary
A young girl describes how she once heard the sound of warning drums in Africa signaling the coming of horror. Kidnapped, made to march while chained, and taken to America to be sold at an auction, she undergoes the brutalities of slavery in this tale of a strong-willed girl who lives in harsh surroundings. Full color.
Author Notes
Dolores Johnson received a bachelor's degree in art from Boston University. She eventually moved to the Los Angeles area and applied her talents to advertising and television. At a friend's suggestion, she enrolled in picture book writing and illustrating courses. She was eventually asked to illustrate Jenny by Beth P. Wilson, which was published in 1990. Since then, she has written and illustrated several of her own stories including What Will Mommy Do When I'm at School?, Now Let Me Fly, and The Children's Book of Kwanzaa.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-This ambitious picture book tells the life of a woman who was captured as a child in Africa and became a slave on an American plantation. As an adult, Minna relates the grim threads that have woven the story of her life. Sickness, hunger, and backbreaking labor are ameliorated only by the love and support of a fellow slave who becomes her husband, and by her four children. Her happiness is short-lived, however, for first her husband and then her eldest son are sold to other plantations. Minna's second child, after being whipped for teaching herself to read, escapes to freedom. The third child attempts to go north to join his sister; he does not make it that far, but is taken in by a Seminole Indian family. Finally, Minna is left with only her youngest child, who remains working in the Big House. Johnson's personalization of the facts is an effective device for conveying an overview of the tragedy of human slavery, but by condensing so much into one family's life, the author is unable to maintain her characters' individuality, and they become icons instead. The handsome illustrations are formally posed and somewhat blurred, adding to the sensation that this one family stands for all slaves. Still, this book is a beginning for teaching a painful part of America's history.-Anna DeWind, Milwaukee Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In an author's note, Johnson ( Your Dad Was Just Like You ) writes that this ``is not a pleasant story, nor does it have a happy ending. Yet it is a story that must be told.'' On all points, she is absolutely correct. Her fictionalized account of an all-too-real situation opens in 1815, when an African girl, Minna, is kidnapped and taken aboard a foul-smelling ship bound for North America. During the arduous three-month trip, she makes friends with a boy named Amadi. Sold to ``a tall white man with the cold eyes of a snake,'' the two are put to work in the cotton fields, and eventually marry and have four children. In her powerful, heartbreaking first-person narrative, Minna tells how Amadi is suddenly sold to another master (``. . . before I could even say good-bye. I was never to hear another word from him again''). The next year, her oldest son is also sold, after which Minna allows two other children to ``steal away'' to freedom. As the tale closes, Minna and her youngest daughter still live in ``this prison of slavery'' on the cotton plantation; an epilogue speculates on the fates of the fictional characters and explains that they, their descendants and the majority of their real-life counterparts continued this ``brutal existence'' until the Civil War ended 20 years later. Johnson's stately, slightly impressionistic illustrations underscore the anguish and sadness of her story--and of the entire slavery experience. Ages 5-10. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Minna tells the painful story of her kidnapping in Africa and her forced journey to America on a slave ship. Although she remains enslaved all her life, the escape of two of her children offers some optimism. Because Johnson captures the stark realism of this period of African-American life, readers may find the story uncomfortable to read. Sad faces looking out of the color illustrations echo the mood of the dark text. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Minna narrates her kidnapping by slave traders as a child in Africa and the rough passage to America. Under the cruel conditions on board ship, she meets Amadi, with whom she is sold to a plantation owner. They marry and have four children before Amadi is sold; two ``steal away'' to freedom in the years before ratification of the 13th Amendment. Johnson neither spares grim details nor harps on them, achieving subtlety through careful phrasing (a reference to those who ``survived'' the ship's passage is a quiet reminder of those who did not). Her vivid paintings blend generalized impressionistic backgrounds with realistic foregrounds; faces seem to flicker with an array of universal emotions. Some facts are filtered through a modern sensibility (e.g., Minna says she was sold for ``less than one hundred dollars,'' implying that was a small amount), but nonetheless, a compelling, elegantly composed narrative. Excellent author's note. (Picture book. 5-9)
Booklist Review
Ages 5-9. Minna, a young African girl, is kidnapped, sold into slavery, and sent to America, where she is purchased by Master Clemmons, who puts her to work picking cotton. Although she grows up, marries, and bears four children, Minna's life is not an easy one. Her husband and oldest son are sold to other slave owners, and two other children "steal away"--one to safety in the North and the other to Florida to live with the Seminole Indians. Minna and her family are fictional characters, but their experiences are representative of many African Americans from the mid-1500s to the mid-1800s. Johnson's moving artwork offers many details of African and plantation life. While she has chosen not to depict the most brutal cruelties of slavery, the expressive faces of the characters vividly portray the harsh realities. Commissioned by the Children's Museum of San Diego, Johnson recounts the African American story with honesty and sensitivity. A compelling presentation that deserves space on library shelves. ~--Kay Weisman