January's Sparrow

January's Sparrow

Juvenile literature
Can you imagine this? As a young child you see a loved one
whipped mercilessly for running away. Then you're shaken awake in the
middle of the night by your mother. Your family has no choice but to
take the desperate risk of fleeing. Yup, we're back in the 19th
century plantation South.
That's the plight of Sadie, protagonist of Patricia Polacco's
January's Sparrow. Her parents had overheard plans to auction off her
brothers. She'd probably never see them again. Her mother wasn't
about to let that happen.
Now imagine you have to cross a huge part of the United States
on foot. On foot! You mostly have to travel at night through the
woods. People on horseback with dogs trained to be vicious are
tracking you and your loved ones, greedy for bounty money. Sometimes
you hear the dogs barking.
After walking from Kentucky to Michigan, Sadie and her family
find themselves in a town that is part of the Underground Railroad.
Both blacks and whites in Marshall are against slavery. The family
decides to stay at least a little while. Sadie's parents and one
brother get jobs. She and her other brothers are able to go to
school. They make the honor roll. Sadie gets a new baby sister.
But the family can never be truly safe south of Canada. In the
wee hours of a January morning their worst fears come true when armed
slave catchers break into their home.
Will they be taken back into bondage?
Well you'll have to read the book to see.
Sadie and her family, the Crosswhites, were real people. At a
time when a lot of folks are trying to sanitize and whitewash slavery
their story is a must read.
A lot of folks think slavery was only a bad chapter in America's
history. So not true. We'll look at the modern day plague in our
next review.
On a personal note, what was it I promised I'd reveal? Oh yeah, my
grade. A! I am grad school material for sure. I helped shut down
Wells for vaca. So now I'm out of school and work until next semester.
A great big shout out goes out to my classmates and work family who I
know I'll miss after Christmas.
Joey cat is loving our beautiful tree. Right now he's napping under it.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod