The Slave Dancer

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox won the Newbery Medal in 1974. It was recommended to me by Rondrea in 1997. I read it this week - finally.

Rondrea...what a girl! Fierce, loving, smiling! Too bad she was my student for only a year!

This book tells the story of Jessie, a 13-year-old boy from New Orleans who is kidnapped by sailors because he can play a fife. The captain of their ship needs a boy who plays music. Jessie learns that the music will not be for the men, but for the Africans that the ship will bring back to sell as slaves. When the Africans are brought up out of the hold for exercise, Jessie is to play and they are to "dance."

Jessie hates almost everything about being on the ship. They live in constant filth, stench, hunger, and thirst. They are at the mercy of the winds and weather, and the Captain and his mates. They must avoid other ships because slave trade is illegal. If found by the English or Americans, they will have to dump their slave cargo. At book's end, there are only two people left.

I have read some of the criticism of this book. There are some who are bothered by the way the blacks are called a few times. Certain characters in the book also show racism towards the blacks. I can understand why this bothers people, but if a novel of truly historical fiction is going to be written, then it needs to accurately show that which would have been true at the time. The truth of the past is sometimes ugly and hurtful, but that doesn't mean it is meant to be the truth of the present. You can't just edit the truth because children will be reading it.

Paula Fox herself said, "One thing is certain: the criteria for artistry and integrity must be every bit as high in books for children as for adults. We must never, ever try to pull the wool over children's eyes by "watering down" powerful stories. Contrary to popular belief, children are not easily fooled; they know if a story is authentic, or not. And for this they deserve our respect and the best literature that can be made available.

I would hope that children who read this book are abhorred by it, that it causes them to look at themselves and desire to live and think differently than the characters in the book. My concern is that kids will open up this book and not read very much before becoming disinterested. The book is extremely well-written. But if you are looking to read something that will not require you to work at it, then you should read something else. In my opinion, the best literature is not only that which engages you, but forces you to work at learning what resides within!