Freedom through legend
The Old African leads plantation slaves into the ocean and towards Africa, in a story originating with enslaved people in coastal Georgia.
Book details
Julius Lester - Author
A powerful story of enslavement, resistance and imagined liberation, told through poetic language, expressive paintings and magical realism. Its movement from brutality towards freedom may offer hope without softening the history.
Book Brief
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Sign in for personalised guidanceA powerful story of enslavement, resistance and imagined liberation, told through poetic language, expressive paintings and magical realism. Its movement from brutality towards freedom may offer hope without softening the history.
The Old African leads plantation slaves into the ocean and towards Africa, in a story originating with enslaved people in coastal Georgia.
The story depicts brutal treatment, slave-ship terror and suffering through poetic prose and expressive, sometimes wordless paintings.
Expect slavery, brutal beating, whips, blood, the terror of slave ships, suffering and bones beneath the sea. The illustrations are described as haunting and often wordless, so images may carry substantial emotional weight.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
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