In this searing picture of slavery (Kirkus Reviews),12-year-old slave Sarny risks terrible punishment as Nightjohn, an adult slave, teaches her how to read.
It is a meticulously researched, historically accurate, and artistically crafted portrayal of a grim time in our nation\'s past, brought to light through the personal history of two unforgettable characters..
Set in the 1850s, Gary Paulsen\'s groundbreaking new novel is unlike anything else the award-winning author has written.
And twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to take the risk to learn.
Knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment Nightjohn still retumed to slavery to teach others how to read.
He had escaped north to freedom, but he came back--came back to teach reading. -- Sarny Sarny, a female slave at the Waller plantation, first sees Nightjohn when he is brought there with a rope around his neck, his body covered in scars.
To learn. -- Nightjohn I didn\'t know what letters was, not what they meant, but I thought it might be something I wanted to know.
That\'s why they don\'t want us reading. . . .
They thinks we want what they got .
We get to wanting and when we get to wanting it\'s bad for them.
To know things, for us to know things, is bad for them.
An inspirational story, meticulously researched, and historically accurate.
In this searing picture of slavery (Kirkus Reviews),12-year-old slave Sarny risks terrible punishment as Nightjohn, an adult slave, teaches her how to read
