African Town
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning novel-in-verse.
Cover may vary.
In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria were captured and brought to Mobile, Alabama aboard a ship called Clotilda. Their journey includes the savage Middle Passage and being hidden in the swamplands along the Alabama River before being secretly parceled out to various plantations, where they made desperate attempts to maintain both their culture and also fit into the place of captivity to which they'd been delivered. At the end of the Civil War, the survivors created a community for themselves they called African Town, which still exists to this day. Told in 14 distinct voices, including that of the ship that brought them to the American shores and the founder of African Town, this powerfully affecting historical novel-in-verse recreates a pivotal moment in US and world history, the impacts of which we still feel today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Based on historical events and set between 1859 and 1901, Latham (D-39: A Robodog's Journey) and Waters (Dictionary for a Better World) pen an ambitious verse novel told in many voices. In spite of laws forbidding further importation of enslaved peoples into the United States, Timothy Meaher, owner of a shipping business, wagers $1,000 that he can smuggle "a good number" of enslaved people across the Atlantic and into Mobile, Ala., without being caught. As a result, Capt. William Foster sails the Clotilda to the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1860, buying 110 people from the nephew of Dahomey's king. Alternating among 14 voices, including that of the Clotilda, this novelization chronicles the journey of the 110 enslaved people across the Middle Passage and their subsequent lives, including a dream of returning home to Africa and, eventually, the establishment of free African Town, "a town far enough from Mobile that it feels/ like de center of the world, but also separate/ from de world." Though the myriad narrative voices can sound indistinct, the authors employ a range of poetic forms, resulting in an insightful, quickly paced telling that centers tradition and resilience. Abundant back matter includes an authors' note, glossary, timeline, list of poetry forms/styles employed, and more. Ages 12–up. Agent (for Latham and Waters): Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Agency.
