10. The Slave Dancer

Title: The Slave Dancer
Author: Paula Fox
Publisher: Dell Publishing (Yearling)
Copyright Date: 1973
Number of Pages: 152
Reading Level: 12+
Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary
Jessie is sent to his aunt’s home to fetch some candles for his mother. He decides to take the long way home and is press-ganged onto a ship called the Moonlight. The ship is a slaver. Jessie is told that he will be home in four months time and will make a profit from the slave trade but he wants nothing to do with it. The reason Jessie was taken aboard the ship was to play his fife for the slaves so that they would dance and stay strong during the voyage. The sounds, smells, sights, and tastes of the ship constantly torment Jess and what he must endure on the Moonlight. Purvis, although a crusty seaman, becomes Jessie’s friend and helps him along the way. In the end there is a celebration before the selling of the slaves and ships show up on the horizon. The captain Cawthorne orders all the slaves to be tossed overboard but Jessie helps a boy around his age to hide. A storm swells in and kills everyone except for Jessie and the boy. They swim ashore after the storm passes and are taken in by an old runaway slave named Daniel. He helps Ras, the black boy, to escape North with a couple other black men and helps Jess to find his way back home to New Orleans.

Recommendation
An eye-opener. The book brings to reality some of the brutal circumstance of the slave trade and what it did to so many Africans. I would recommend this more to boys than girls. I believe that it is also a good history lesson so that if a teacher had a lesson planned around it, they could assign readings from this book.

Problems/Conflict
The book is quite graphic and although I read it as a kid I think I would want other kids to wait until maybe age 14 to read it.

My Reaction
I loved this book when I was younger but I don’t think I understood a lot of it then. I am still amazed at what humans can do to other humans just to make money. I remain in awe of the book and its details.