When Daylight Comes

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9 One of the most successful but least remembered slave uprisings in the Western Hemisphere took place on present-day St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1733. Using this historical setting, Howard imagines what it would have been like if the ruling Danish magistrate's daughter were held captive by the liberated blacks. A familiar story line, prisoner sympathizing with the cause of her captors, is meticulously woven through each chapter. While the protagonist may seem to adjust physically to her new environs a bit too readily, her mental anguish is developed in detail. Howard strives to be historically accurate, adding only three fictional characters to the known participants in the scenario. The book also remains true to the cultural characteristics of both the Danes and the blacks. This is an interesting historical novel for young readers that does not take unjust liberties with the facts. When Daylight Comes is good reading, has a solemn and realistic ending and deals with a significant occurrence in the quest for freedom by enslaved blacks. Tom S. Hurlburt, Anoka County Library, Blaine, Minn.