Seaward Born

Rating:
Summary: Exciting adventure story!
Review: I didn't know too much about life in 1806 or slavery, but I really enjoyed reading Michael's story! He had to decide if he wanted to risk his life to try to be free. He had narrow escapes. I really liked the parts where he was escaping, and where he decided to change his name to Noah. I really liked this book!

Rating:
Summary: Moving and exciting story of boy's escape from slavery
Review: I read this book with my two grandchildren, ages 8 and ten, and they were fascinated by the story -- and so was I. Author Wait knows her period and her characters, and brings to life the story of a boy who is torn between what he knows and loves, and what the consequences of inaction will be. My grandchildren loved the unhesitating details of what it must have been like to hide in a barrel for days in a ship's hold ... and the chapter on Michael's memories of what his mother had told him of her Middle Passage story are moving and just detailed enough to be fascinating to any age. I would definitely recommend this book
to anyone, of any age -- and certainly to a grandparent wanting to find a way to talk to children about slavery.

Rating:
Summary: Kept my son fascinated for two days
Review: Michael, born a slave in Charleston, wishes more than anything to be able to work on the docks, and maybe some day work on a boat. When his master dies, his wish is granted, and he goes to the docks. While there, he learns about the idea of freedom. It's a scary thought, and it takes some gumption for Michael, who renames himself Noah, to think of trying to gain freedom for himself. What will he have to endure to become free, and will he succeed? He has already lost his family and his security with a good master. What else must he lose?

Lea Wait, who lives in Maine, has a good eye for background detail. Her vivid scenes of Charleston in 1805-6 are very believable. The lives and terrors of slaves born there, and what they know about the dreadful ships on which their people arrived in America are gripping. Noah, who is a minor character in Wait's earlier young adult novel, "Stopping to Home" manages to meet those friends again. "Seaward Born" is the second book in what will become more stories for young people about others their age who find themselves adrift in a hostile world, but who eventually find true homes.

Lea Wait also writes adult mysteries, the "Shadows" series.

Rating:
Summary: Kept my son fascinated for two days
Review: My son is 12, and not usually an eager reader, but Seaward Born really kept him reading. He said "it was real!" and he loved that the main character not only chose his own destiny -- he chose his own name! Definitely worth checking out.