Awards

• Commended for Coretta Scott King Award (Author) 2012
• Commended for Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) (Historical Fiction) 2012
• Winner of Booklist Children's Editors' Choice 2011
• Winner of Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book 2011
• Winner of Literary Award (Children's Illustrated) 2012
• Winner of NAPPA Gold Awards (Tweens & Teens) 2011

Overview

"A 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book This gorgeous picture book by Newbery Honor winner Patricia C. McKissack and two-time Caldecott Medal-winning husband-and-wife team Leo and Diane Dillon is sure to become a treasured keepsake for African American families. Set in West Africa, this a lyrical story-in-verse is about a young black boy who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, and his father who is left behind to mourn the loss of his son. Here's a beautiful, powerful, truly unforgettable story about family, memory, and freedom. ""Forceful and iconic,"" raves Publishers Weekly in a starred review."

Full Product Details

9780375843846

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Reviews

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2011: Forceful and iconic, the Dillons' (The Secret River) woodcut-style paintings use gentle colors and strong lines to telegraph scary sequences, but do not dwell on them...The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both. Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011: The pictures demonstrate the miracle of superb book illustration: how something that lies flat on the page can convey such depth, texture, and feeling. This sad but powerful tale will not be easily accessible to many kids, but here's hoping that there are a lot of patient and appreciative adults (teachers, parents, librarians) to introduce them to it. Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2011: The dramatic, thickly outlined acrylic-andwatercolor illustrations extend the story's magical realism and intensify the anguish and grief in the words. Both words and images come together in a conclusion that brings hope, with the promise of freedom Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011: Sounds of drums and song for each element (Fire is Kiki Karum Kiki Karum Kiki Karum, while Water is Shum Da Da We Da Shum Da Da We Da, for instance) emphasize the storyteller's voice in the narrative, inviting listeners to participate and engage. Full-page and border paintings in acrylic and watercolor use strong black lines, almost like woodcut engravings, in deep browns, earth colors and subtle jewel tones against creamy backgrounds...A totally absorbing poetic celebration of loss and redemption. Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1, 2011: McKissak gives her legend-making genuine momentum as well as scope....Stories of the middle passage rarely focus on the pain of those left behind, and this is a creative yet poignant treatment of that grief.

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2011: Forceful and iconic, the Dillons' (The Secret River) woodcut-style paintings use gentle colors and strong lines to telegraph scary sequences, but do not dwell on them...The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both. Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011: The pictures demonstrate the miracle of superb book illustration: how something that lies flat on the page can convey such depth, texture, and feeling. This sad but powerful tale will not be easily accessible to many kids, but here's hoping that there are a lot of patient and appreciative adults (teachers, parents, librarians) to introduce them to it. Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2011: The dramatic, thickly outlined acrylic-andwatercolor illustrations extend the story's magical realism and intensify the anguish and grief in the words. Both words and images come together in a conclusion that brings hope, with the promise of freedom Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011: Sounds of drums and song for each element (Fire is Kiki Karum Kiki Karum Kiki Karum, while Water is Shum Da Da We Da Shum Da Da We Da, for instance) emphasize the storyteller's voice in the narrative, inviting listeners to participate and engage. Full-page and border paintings in acrylic and watercolor use strong black lines, almost like woodcut engravings, in deep browns, earth colors and subtle jewel tones against creamy backgrounds...A totally absorbing poetic celebration of loss and redemption. Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1, 2011: McKissak gives her legend-making genuine momentum as well as scope....Stories of the middle passage rarely focus on the pain of those left behind, and this is a creative yet poignant treatment of that grief.

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2011: Forceful and iconic, the Dillons' (The Secret River) woodcut-style paintings use gentle colors and strong lines to telegraph scary sequences, but do not dwell on them...The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both. Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011: The pictures demonstrate the miracle of superb book illustration: how something that lies flat on the page can convey such depth, texture, and feeling. This sad but powerful tale will not be easily accessible to many kids, but here's hoping that there are a lot of patient and appreciative adults (teachers, parents, librarians) to introduce them to it. Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2011: The dramatic, thickly outlined acrylic-andwatercolor illustrations extend the story's magical realism and intensify the anguish and grief in the words. Both words and images come together in a conclusion that brings hope, with the promise of freedom Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011: Sounds of drums and song for each element (Fire is Kiki Karum Kiki Karum Kiki Karum, while Water is Shum Da Da We Da Shum Da Da We Da, for instance) emphasize the storyteller's voice in the narrative, inviting listeners to participate and engage. Full-page and border paintings in acrylic and watercolor use strong black lines, almost like woodcut engravings, in deep browns, earth colors and subtle jewel tones against creamy backgrounds...A totally absorbing poetic celebration of loss and redemption. Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1, 2011: McKissak gives her legend-making genuine momentum as well as scope....Stories of the middle passage rarely focus on the pain of those left behind, and this is a creative yet poignant treatment of that grief.

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2011: <br> Forceful and iconic, the Dillons' (The Secret River) woodcut-style paintings use gentle colors and strong lines to telegraph scary sequences, but do not dwell on them...The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both. <br><br>Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2011: <br> The dramatic, thickly outlined acrylic-andwatercolor illustrations extend the story's magical realism and intensify the anguish and grief in the words. Both words and images come together in a conclusion that brings hope, with the promise of freedom

<p>Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2011: <br> Forceful and iconic, the Dillons' (The Secret River) woodcut-style paintings use gentle colors and strong lines to telegraph scary sequences, but do not dwell on them...The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both. <br>Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011: <br> The pictures demonstrate the miracle of superb book illustration: how something that lies flat on the page can convey such depth, texture, and feeling. This sad but powerful tale will not be easily accessible to many kids, but here's hoping that there are a lot of patient and appreciative adults (teachers, parents, librarians) to introduce them to it. <br>Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2011: <br> The dramatic, thickly outlined acrylic-andwatercolor illustrations extend the story's magical realism and intensify the anguish and grief in the words. Both words and i

Author Information

PATRICIA MCKISSACK is one of the most acclaimed authors writing for children today. She has written many award-winning books, including Never Forgotten, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; Porch Lies, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book; The Dark Thirty, a Newbery Honor Book; Let My People Go, recipient of the NAACP Image Award; and Mirandy and Brother Wind, a Caldecott Honor Book. Her other books include The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, Goin' Someplace Special, and Precious and the Boo Hag. Patricia and her husband, Frederick McKissack, are the recipients of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. LEO and DIANE DILLON have illustrated over 60 books for children and have received just about every honor and award imaginable. They are the winners of two Caldecott Medals (Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears and Ashanti to Zulu), five New York Times Best Illustrated Awards (including one for the Knopf book, The People Could Fly), and numerous Coretta Scott King Awards.

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