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Summary: synopsis
Review: Jesse was taken from his home at the age of thirteen. He played the fife well. He was asked to dance the slaves so that they would not lack their exercise. The book was depressing, therefor people who do not like sad stories should not read this book.
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Summary: I hated it
Review: I am a student in the 8th grade and hve to do many different projects on it from the beggining I did not like it. The more that I understand it the more I hate. This is a all around bad book.
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Summary: Lacks sensitivity .
Review: The major problem that I have with this book is that it may be presented by some teachers to African-American youth without the proper discussion. The potentially offensive and harmful parts of the book could reek havoc on some young minds. The potential embarrassment for some African-American students who read about a character who proclaims himself as better that any black person who every lived must be considered. Certainly the book does not endorse this statement ultimately but, by then, the damage has been done. Regardless of what prizes this book has and who excuses the overt racisim contained therein as "literary merit", this book cannot be approached without much caution. Do we really need to import this kind of literature into our schools? Don't we already to a good job of placing emphasis on our differences? Enough is enough!
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Summary: It was touching
Review: I think that the slave dancer was cool because it was about a time were black people were slaves and it showed hoe not everybody was cold hearted.
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Summary: Great way to describe how it accutully was on the ships.
Review: It was a great book it taught you many things about the life of the crew and cargo (slaves) on the slave ships.
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Summary: A classic every young person needs to read!
Review: I feel it is my duty to defend this book, especially after I read the previous review(see below). This book was awarded the John Newbery Award in 1974, this award is for the most distinguished children's book published the previous year. In her acceptance speech, Paula Fox traced the genesis of the novel to a footnote in a history book, which stated that crews of slave ships would kidnap young street musicians to serve as "slave dancers". Fox states..."When I read the records of the past, I sometimes wanted to turn away from what I was learning-to sleep. But as I read on and heard the words of the captive people themselves, as I began to feel the power of their endurance, I perceived that the people who had spoken so long ago of every conceivable human loss were not only survivors, but pioneers of the human condition in inhuman circumstances." When reading this novel one realizes that slavery diminishes the oppressors as well as the oppressed. The graphic scenes of horror neither sensationalizes nor exploits the material. This is a great book for a class to read, with unlimited posibilities for thematic conections, to include lectures and assignments on survival, trust, prejudice, guilt, friendship, history, geography, math, science, and the study of language. Although this is a graphic, realistic picture of one of the most shameful aspects of our history, this is a must read for students; for those very same reasons. Jesse is well developed, and we feel the physical and emotional agonies he suffers, especially when his conscience can no longer bear the burden of his guilt and shame. I hope you enjoy SLAVE DANCER as much as I have, and as a young adult librarian I will continue to recommend this book every chance I get.
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Summary: A very poor excuse for literature.
Review: I read this book because it was a possible selection for a 7th grade language arts class that I was working with. I know that there are better things that children could be reading. I thought that the story was very disjointed and contrived. It was as though someone said "Hmmm...we need a book that we can sell to schools to use in their literature or social studies programs. It should tell a little bit about the horrors of slavery, have some action, and hint at atrocities and perversity. It doesn't have to be especially well-written, and, oh, by the way, keep it around 120 pages." I would be embarrassed to read this to my kids because they might ask me why we were reading such junk. I'd hate to try to explain some of the plot and characterization irregularities. Some parts of this book were simply prurient. We need to teach kids history, but we need to do it in a responsible manner. I'm glad some of the kids above found it boring. Hopefully they weren't paying enough attention to have much of this drivel stick in their minds. Shame on the author and anyone who granted it any kind of award.
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Summary: THEY DANCED TO A DIFFERENT DRUM
Review: Thirteen-year-old Jessie Bollier earns a pittance from sailors who enjoy his wharfside fife music, until he is ruthlessly kidnapped and taken on board The Moonlight, a slave ship. There he must work as more than just a cabin boy--he is forced to play his fife so that the wretched human cargo can "dance" as a form of pitiful exercise during the long voyage from Africa. This poor youth is abruptly plunged into the horrors and social crimes of the Triangle Trade (Molasses--Rum--Slaves), greedily promoted by New England merchants and sea captains to line their own pockets, as well as furnish a cheap supply of unwillng labor for Southern plantation owners. During the four-month voyage Jessie is subjected to physical and psychological brutality, bordering on torture, from most of the depraved crew. Is there any man aboard whom he dares trust, who will truly be a friend to him in need? This boy comes suddenly of age in the critical job of self-preservation. He learns to respect the Africans who suffer human atrocities with innate dignity; he surprises himself by bonding with a Black youth whose language he can not even speak. Jessie longs to escape and return to his squalid home, where at least his mother loves him. But gruesome events unfold as the ship rolls and pitches its way homeward, towards its justified doom. What final horror threatens to engulf this sensitive boy and leave permanent scars? Based on historical fact The Slave Dancer depicts the stark brutality of the slave trade--an Anglo-American shame--as well as providing glimpses into maritime New Orleans. Violence and human debasement abound, but through it all Jessie retains his compassion and humanity, seeking the best in his sordid environment. This is one powerful, suspenseful read!
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Summary: The best suspense/adventure book ever!!
Review: The Slave Dancer is about a boy named Jessie who gets captured and put on an illegal slave ship to play his fife for the slaves to dance to. In this book I learned how badly the slaves were treated .They were whipped and beaten! I liked this book because it has a lot of suspense and adventure.This book is for people who like to read suspense and adventure novels. On a scale from "1-10" I would give The Slave Dancer a "9" because of the cursing and the captian's disgusting bloodthirstiness.This book would not be for children 5 and under to read because of the bloodiness and bad language in the story.
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Summary: Liberty School 7th Grade review of Slave Dancer
Review: Slave Dancer is a good book. It was a suspencful story that showed us the terrors and horrors of the slave trade in the 1840's. This book was read in Language Arts for our historical fiction genre. There were several scenes of flashbacking and foreshadowing throughout the book.
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