Overview
No one on the plantation had ever heard the Old African’s voice, yet he had spoken to all of them in their minds. For the Old African had the power to see the color of a person’s soul and read his thoughts as if they were words on a page. Now it was time to act—time to lead his fellow slaves to the Water-That-Stretched-Forever, and from there back to Africa. Back to their home.
Based on legend and infused with magical realism, this haunting tale is beautiful in both its language and its images. Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney have found a new, extraordinary way to express the horrors of slavery and the hope and strength that managed to overcome its grip.
An elderly slave uses the power of his mind to ease the suffering of his fellow slaves and eventually lead them back to Africa. Based on an actual incident from black history.
Synopsis
No one on the plantation had ever heard the Old African's voice, yet he had spoken to all of them in their minds. For the Old African had the power to see the color of a person's soul and read his thoughts as if they were words on a page. Now it was time to act -- time to lead his fellow slaves to the Water-That-Stretched-Forever, and from there back to Africa. Back to their home.
Based on legend and infused with magical realism, this haunting tale is beautiful in both its language and its images. Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney have found a new, extraordinary way to express the horrors of slavery and the hope and strength that managed to overcome its grip.
Publishers Weekly
Based on legend, this story by frequent collaborators Lester and Pinkney moves gracefully and affectingly from darkness into light. As the tale opens, a plantation master whips a young slave who has attempted to escape. Yet the slaves witnessing this do not see the blood glistening on the boy's back; instead they see in their minds a picture of water "as blue as freedom." This vision is provided by the Old African, once called Jaja, a wise slave with a unique power to speak to his fellow captives in their minds and "[pull] the pain from the channels of their souls as if it were a worm in the earth." The narrative then returns to the time of Jaja's capture from his African village and the Middle Passage (across the "Water-That-Stretched-Forever") to be sold into slavery. Like Tom Feelings's The Middle Passage, author and artist do not spare readers the horrors that occurred. Lester describes the stripping down of captives and liberties taken with the women; in wordless spreads, Pinkney shows Jaja chained to a man who was just fatally shot. On the journey, Jaja's wife throws herself overboard and his mentor is beaten to death. Back in the present, the Old African learns that his master wants him dead, and believes "it is time to go home." Two stunning wordless spreads depict the triumphant, uplifting finale, in which the sage leads the captives along the ocean floor to their homeland. By not shying away from the realities of these characters' daily life, Lester and Pinkney make their victory all the greater. Ages 9-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Based on legend, this story by frequent collaborators Lester and Pinkney moves gracefully and affectingly from darkness into light. As the tale opens, a plantation master whips a young slave who has attempted to escape. Yet the slaves witnessing this do not see the blood glistening on the boy's back; instead they see in their minds a picture of water "as blue as freedom." This vision is provided by the Old African, once called Jaja, a wise slave with a unique power to speak to his fellow captives in their minds and "[pull] the pain from the channels of their souls as if it were a worm in the earth." The narrative then returns to the time of Jaja's capture from his African village and the Middle Passage (across the "Water-That-Stretched-Forever") to be sold into slavery. Like Tom Feelings's The Middle Passage, author and artist do not spare readers the horrors that occurred. Lester describes the stripping down of captives and liberties taken with the women; in wordless spreads, Pinkney shows Jaja chained to a man who was just fatally shot. On the journey, Jaja's wife throws herself overboard and his mentor is beaten to death. Back in the present, the Old African learns that his master wants him dead, and believes "it is time to go home." Two stunning wordless spreads depict the triumphant, uplifting finale, in which the sage leads the captives along the ocean floor to their homeland. By not shying away from the realities of these characters' daily life, Lester and Pinkney make their victory all the greater. Ages 9-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Basing his novella-length story on a Ybo slave legend, Lester tells how slaves walked into the water and back to Africa. Jaja, the title character, can draw the pain of others into his mind and hones this skill when captured in Africa, dragged into a slave ship, and carted to Georgia. The graphic text depicts the horror and brutality of slavery, while Pinkney's detailed pencil and watercolor illustrations fill the page with bodies upon bodies, alternating with close-ups of characters in pain and later in triumph. The Old African puts his mind into a hawk's body, sees the ocean, and decides to cross it and return home. His powerful concentration causes a huge fire to engulf the cruel plantation owner's home, convinces the slaves to follow and trust him, and causes the sharks to guide them under water. Miraculously, as they walk, skeletons begin to follow and are revivified as they emerge on the African shores. An author and an illustrator note reveal some of the sources and choices, such as the reason for Pinkney's abandonment of the models he usually relies upon. For middle school readers, this pairs well with Tom Feelings' more graphic The Middle Passage: White Ships, Black Cargo, as a vivid evocation of slavery's depredations. 2005, Dial/Penguin, Ages 11 to 14.—Susan Hepler, Ph.D.