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5.0 out of 5 stars
Teach children well, April 25 2004
This 1993 non-fiction biography addresses slavery in the U.S., through the spell-binding story of Anthony Burns, who was captured and tried in 1854 Boston as a fugitive slave. Chapters alternate between 1854 and the 1840s, when Burns spent his boyhood and youth as the slave of Virginia plantation-owner Charles Suttle. In 35 children's books, the late Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002) frequently focused on themes of slavery and inequality. No dry or fictional account, this riveting read-aloud elucidates 19th century heroism culminating in a dramatic denouement before Burns' untimely death at 28 in Canada on July 27, 1862. The epilogue covers repercussions to Boston abolitionists and others who helped him. The book initiates fine in-class discussions of current-day slavery and abolitionists at Christian Solidarity International, iAbolish (the American anti-Slavery Group) and other groups who seek to end the practice, forever. The story opens with Burns' Boston abduction. His flashbacks transport readers to his early years in Virginia; these crescendo in his flight from slavery and trial. Hamilton sets historical figures in context and invigorates their fiery sermons, posters and political gatherings with life. She fleshes out the details of Burns' life, from his point of view. He experiences hardships but dares to hope. His story includes suspense and drama that gets children's attention. Burns suffered horribly. For example, he was once confined for four months to a slave jail in North Carolina, his arms and legs always shackled. In solitary confinement with inadequate hygiene and food, he became seriously ill. Still, Anthony Burns went on to achieve great things. The book infuses children with the indignation of the abolitionists here portrayed. They were determined to defeat barbarism on American soil. Pastors and politicians, freed men and attorneys, and even some southerners, willingly defied federal laws to advance humanitarian ends, which the U.S. achieved within a decade of these events. Kids see here a predominantly Judeo-Christian society, willing to accept responsibility for wrongs, amend them and repair to honest labor and nation building. The U.S. freed its slaves 150 years ago, at enormous but willing sacrifice--a gruesome war that took 600,000 lives. By contrast, radical Muslim Sudan today claims it neither condones nor practices slavery, yet indentures some 100,000 black southern Sudanese Christians, according to the New York Times, and systematically murders 1,000 blacks weekly in a genocide that has thus far felled more than 2 million non-Muslim and other blacks. Sudan, with only Islamic human rights, mandates institutional enslavement and discrimination against all non-Muslims. Hamilton's saga is a fabulous teaching tool. Indeed, she was named Virginia to remind her of her family's roots--and the imperative to use her liberty well. Burns was a hero in every sense of the word, as were those compassionately determined to eliminate slavery in the U.S. This book provides great history. Good teachers will also use it to encourage new abolitionists, until slavers and slavery are utterly defeated, everywhere. --Alyssa A. Lappen
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