Blog 15: Julius Lester

Book Selection: "The Old African"
Author: Julius Lester
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

(1) "The Old African" is based on a legend about a man who could infuse feelings, thoughts, and emotions into people without speech. Initially, the Old African man was captured from his homeland and sent by boat across the Water-That-Stretched-Forever (ocean) to the land where he would become a slave. The Old African sees many horrific things in his time, but is also able to stifle pain and torture. When a young slave escapes and returns telling of Water-That-Stretched-Forever, the Old African knows it is time to lead his people to freedom. This is an incredible story that is made even better by the realistic illustrations within the pages.

(2) Stories of slave life interest me in the same way that some people cannot help but watch when disaster occurs. It is astounding to me to think about the way an entire nation of people were treated based solely on their skin color. It is actually quite disgusting. Furthermore, I likely enjoyed this book so much because the slaves had an opportunity to become free, and their freedom was a form of revenge on the people who brutally abused and mistreated them.



(3) While I have not yet read any other Julius Lester books, I do intend to in the future. After some research, I discovered that he tends to write about slavery and this topic is one that must never be forgotten.

Some of Julius Lester's other titles include:
"Day of Tears"
"To Be a Slave"
"Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales"
"Lovesong: Becoming a Jew"
"Dressed Like Freedom"
"John Henry"
"Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire"
"From Slave Ship to Freedom"
"Ackamarackus"
"Othello"
"Sam and the Tigers"
"Why Heaven is Far Away"
"The Autobiography of God"

and many more.

Images courtesy of http://images.google.com.