Canadian Literature Assignment:

Black History Month

By Tammy Hennessy

8 books for intermediates

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

• Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle, a string of slaves, Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic ”Book of Negroes.” This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own.

• Aminata’s eventual return to Sierra Leone passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey. Lawrence Hill is a master at transforming the neglected corners of history into brilliant imaginings, as engaging and revealing as only the best historical fiction can be. A sweeping story that transports the reader from a tribal African village to a plantation in the southern United States, from the teeming Halifax docks to the manor houses of London, The Book of Negroes introduces one of the strongest female characters in recent Canadian fiction, one who cuts a swath through a world hostile to her colour and her sex. http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Book-Negroes-Title-Someone-Knows-Lawrence-Hill

Crossing to Freedom by Virginia Frances Schwartz

• An inspiring tale of fugitive slave who finds freedom in Canada, but still struggles to find a real home. Eleven-year-old Solomon is a fugitive slave on a dangerous journey north to Canada, and to freedom. His young life has seen many losses: his mother was sold in a slave auction when he was a baby; his father escaped from the plantation and hasn’t been seen in five years; and now his grandfather, who has been injured during the last leg of their journey to freedom, and is forced to stay behind. Solomon continues with their group leader, but his feelings of loss and isolation haunt him, as he attempts to forge a new home in Canada.

• It soon becomes apparent that racial prejudices know no borders, and while Solomon works hard and begins to experience some newfound freedoms, he faces discrimination and segregation and lives with the ongoing fear of being caught by slave-catchers and dragged back to the South.

• With all of these barriers facing him, Solomon must find the strength - the same strength that brought him north, the same strength that gives him hope of finding his father - to persevere and understand the true meaning of freedom.

• http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Crossing-to-Freedom-Virginia-Frances-Schwartz

The Last Safe House A Story of the Underground Railroad

by Barbara Greenwood• This is the dramatic story of the

Underground Railroad as seen through the eyes of two young girls — Eliza, a runaway slave from a plantation in Virginia, and Johanna, whose family gives her refuge in St. Catharines, Canada West (now Ontario). In a unique mix of fact and fiction, each chapter is followed by background information and hands-on activities. Kids will learn about life on a cotton plantation, about abolitionists who fought to have slavery made illegal, and about the heroic actions of Canadians who sheltered runaway slaves. Beautifully detailed drawings accompany the text making "The Last Safe House” a comprehensive, all-in-one resource.

• http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Last-Safe-House-Story-Underground-Barbara-Greenwood

DEAR CANADA A Desperate Road to Freedom

The Underground Railroad Diary of Julia May Jackson

Virginia to Canada West, 1863-1864 by Karleen Bradford

• A riveting tale of a brave family's last bid for freedom, and the price they pay to find it. Julia May and her family have done the unthinkable. They have fled from their life of slavery on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, and are making their way north, on foot, where they have heard that slaves can live free. Their story, told through Julia May's journal entries, is gruelling. Their journey takes them through swamps, travelling by night and hiding by day. It is a harrowing, terrifying experience, but determination to find a new life in Canada keeps them going. The diary that Julia May keeps is another act of bravery. Learning to read and write alongside her mistress at the plantation was her own secret, and strictly forbidden for a slave girl. Now as she records her fears and the extraordinary things she sees during her journey, she is deeply afraid that she'll be found out and suffer the consequences. But her journal keeps her going through the hard times until they are finally free. http://books.google.ca/books/about/A_Desperate_Road_to_Freedom

Last Days in Africville by Dorothy Perkyns

• On the shores of Bedford Basin in Halifax, twelve-year-old Selina Palmer is growing up in the community of Africville in the 1960s. Struggling with what it means to be the only black student in her grade six class, Selina takes comfort in the fact that every day she goes home to a loving and vibrant neighbourhood, where friends and family accept her as she is. But ugly rumours are starting to surface about the fate of Africville...

• http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Last-Days-in-Africville-Dorothy-Perkyns

Timeline Graphic Novel: Freedom TrainWritten by Glen Downey Illustrated by

Leigh Dragoon• Each book comes with notes

for parents which highlight talking points and prompt questions. The Teaching Notes for each book provide curriculum-linked reading activities, references to comprehension and language skills strategies together with correlatations to QCA reading focuses. Cross--curricular links and activities are also provided for each book. http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books

Monoceros by Suzette Mayr

• This is a tragic story of a 17-year old boy who was bullied and heartbroken and hangs himself. His suicide affects everyone who knew him. His parents are devestated. Since he was gay, his secret boyfriend’s girlfriend is relieved. His classmates and teacher and the school guidance counsellor are all forced to reflect on their own existence and how they may have been able to be a more positive influence.

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland

• This haunting memoir adds an essential voice to the growing body of literature about Sierra Leone's civil war. Kamara's peaceful childhood ended in shocking violence when rebels arrived in her small rural village. During the devastating attack, child soldiers cut off 12-year-old Kamara's hands, but she managed to escape and carry herself to the relative safety of a town hospital. Kamara describes her first years after the attack, spent begging in the streets of Freetown and sleeping in refugee camps, and then her slow route to Toronto, where she currently attends college. Kamaras account, shaped by journalist McClelland, is made even more powerful by the plain, direct language that presents the horrifying facts without sensationalizing. Even more astonishing than the inconceivable crimes that Kamara endures is the strength, forgiveness, and hope that she discovers as she heals.- Booklist 2009 01 01

• http://www.fireflybooks.com

The Bite of the Mango

• A College Graduate in Toronto, Mariatu Kamara is pictured here in her village in Sierra Leone

• She is a UNICEF Special Represetative for Children and Armed Conflict and she tours North America speaking of her experiences

Here are Some Videos to Watch about the War in Sierra Leone and

“The Bite of the Mango”:• The Bite of the Mango:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwxOoDN5S70 (1:11)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLOMtStSSTM (2:06) –movie trailer

• The Forgotten War: The Sierra Leone Civil War (9:59)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiqHKFMPhHw• Sierra Leone Rising: (5:08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um2QrOZTQEo

Bibliography

• Please go to this URL to see the bibliography for these books:

http://www.bibme.org/shared/seci5HCDw0