School Library Journal
Gr 1–3—Hope's father flees the plantation where he works for the Master to fight against slavery. He leaves his daughter with a conch shell and tells her to hold it to her ear to hear the sound of freedom, which will come one day. Hope, her brother, and their mother miss Papa terribly. Seasons pass, holidays come and go, but still he has not returned. Life is difficult, particularly working in the cotton fields, and made worse by her worry about her father. One day, she looks up to see him with a troop of Union soldiers marching up the road. Not only is he home at last, but he also brings the promise that freedom is at hand. The author tells a story of sadness, separation, and love; a story of sacrifice and freedom. Readers cannot avoid the parallels between Papa's leaving to fight for freedom and the Master's leaving his young daughter to fight against the emancipation; the separation for each child is equally painful. Illustrations are drawn with simple lines and soft colors, using somewhat exaggerated head sizes, which emphasizes characters' emotions. The most effective scene shows plantation workers singing and praying for their freedom in the woods on New Year's Eve. Bare winter trees are silhouetted against the dark sky, with the gathered individuals shown in expressive poses as they worship. Hope is in the foreground, her arms open wide with anticipation. A general purchase for all collections.—Mary Hazelton, formerly at Warren & Waldoboro Elementary Schools, ME
Kirkus Reviews
During the Civil War, an enslaved girl awaits her father's homecoming and emancipation. Hope's father gives her a conch shell the Christmas Eve that he runs away to fight for the Union Army; he tells her that the sound she hears is "the sound of freedom." Through the following months, as news of the war filters through the cotton fields and the slave quarters, Hope finds strength and courage listening to her shell. Then the best news of all is whispered from ear to ear: President Abraham Lincoln is issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Nothing much changes on the plantation, though, until finally Papa arrives with other "colored soldiers" and takes his family into his arms and away from slavery. Lyons gives Hope a strong and very sympathetic voice, while Tate uses colored pencils and gouache in a folk-art style to imbue the characters with dignity. The stark fact that Hope, a child, is sent to work in the cotton fields is stated in a matter-of-fact tone, though the illustrations are softened through a muted palette that helps manage the horror. A warm story about the love of a family and the jubilation of freedom; it commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-7)
