ICCAL » slavery

Never Forgotten

Book Importer — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:05:00 +0000

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, here is a lyrical story-in-verse about a young black boy who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, which will remind children that their slave ancestors should never be forgotten, and that family is more important than anything else.

African Beginnings

Book Importer — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:00:35 +0000

From the ancient kingdom of Kush, whose black pharaohs ruled Egypt for nearly a century, to the sixteenth-century empire of the Kongo, whose emperor was so powerful he was able to halt the trade in slaves for a number of years, the African continent rang with a series of glorious civilizations that have had a lasting impact on the world’s history, and on American culture. James Haskins and Floyd Cooper have won numerous awards for their books for young people, including several Coretta Scott King Honor awards.

Five Thousand Years of Slavery

Book Importer — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:56:35 +0000

When they were too impoverished to raise their families, ancient Sumerians sold their children into bondage. Slave women in Rome faced never-ending household drudgery. The ninth-century Zanj were transported from East Africa to work the salt marshes of Iraq. Cotton pickers worked under terrible duress in the American South.Ancient history? Tragically, no. In our time, slavery wears many faces. James Kofi Annan’s parents in Ghana sold him because they could not feed him. Beatrice Fernando had to work almost around the clock in Lebanon. Julia Gabriel was trafficked from Arizona to the cucumber fields of South Carolina.Five Thousand Years of Slavery provides the suspense and emotional engagement of a great novel. It is an excellent resource with its comprehensive historical narrative, firsthand accounts, maps, archival photos, paintings and posters, an index, and suggestions for further reading. Much more than a reference work, it is a brilliant exploration of the worst – and the best – in human society.

Cry of the Giraffe

Book Importer — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:22:13 +0000

One girl’s harrowing trek from exile and slavery to hope in a new land — all based on a true story.In the early 1980s, thousands of Ethiopian Jews fled the civil unrest, famine and religious persecution of their native land in the hopes of being reunited in Yerusalem, their spiritual homeland, with its promises of a better life. Wuditu and her family risk their lives to make this journey, which leads them to a refugee camp in Sudan, where they are separated. Terrified, 15-year-old Wuditu makes her way back to Ethiopia alone.”Don’t give up, Wuditu! Be strong!” The words of her little sister come to Wuditu in a dream and give her the courage to keep going. Wuditu must find someone to give her food and shelter or she will surely die. Finally Wuditu is offered a solution: working as a servant. However, she quickly realizes that she has become a slave. With nowhere else to go, she stays — until the villagers discover that she is a falasha, a hated Jew. Only her dream of one day being reunited with her family gives her strength — until the arrival of a stranger heralds hope and a new life in Israel.With her graceful long neck, Wuditu is affectionately called “the giraffe.” And like the giraffe who has no voice, she must suffer in silence. Based on real events, Wuditu’s story mirrors the experiences of thousands of Ethiopian Jews.

The Walls Of Cartagena

Book Importer — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:01:03 +0000

Calepino was blessed with good fortune. After his mother died giving birth to him on a slave ship, he was taken in by a wealthy woman who gave him every advantage. Then on his thirteenth birthday, Father Pedro, a devout priest, asks Calepino to assist him with the slaves coming into Cartagena. Soon he’s fighting seasickness, living in squalor, and cursing every minute. That all begins to change when he meets Mara and Tomi, a mother and son who remind him of his own past.

When Tomi and Mara are sold to a cruel man, Calepino is more determined than ever to find a way to save them. Will this be his chance to change someone else’s fortune, or will he put them all in more peril?

Richly detailed and researched, Julia Durango’s gripping first novel brings to life what it means to be truly free.

Voyage of the Snake Lady

Yoo Kyung Sung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:17:33 +0000

Since the fall of Troy, Myrina has built the Moon Riders into a strong and potent band of warrior women. But the son of Achilles is bent on revenge, and the Moon Riders are displaced from their home and fighting for their lives.

Plagued with slavery, storms, shipwreck, and strife, the Moon Riders must accept help from outsiders for their very survival. Only trust in the strong bonds of their friendship will help Myrina, Iphigenia, and Cassandra vanquish their enemies and welcome those who may help them achieve a more peaceful way of life. Like its pr

From Another World

Yoo Kyung Sung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:17:33 +0000

Martin and his friends are helping their parents turn an old Brazilian coffee plantation into an inn. The children have a fun time helping to renovate the old place and they sleep in a shed that is being converted into a guest room. But one night they hear the sound of a young girl crying. Gradually, the ghost of a slave girl from the late 1800s named Rosario appears to them. Rosario tells them the story of her life and in doing so reveals the danger and instability that existed in Brazil after slavery ended. Though not the best at writing, Martin promises Rosario to record her story in the form of a book. Though the experience of slavery seems remote to the Martin and his friends, by the time they’ve heard Rosario’s story, the evil of slavery is made painfully clear. Ann Maria Machado’s deft storytelling skills and social conscience come together in this powerfully moving book that explores the history and impact of slavery.

Forest of the Pygmies

Yoo Kyung Sung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:17:33 +0000

Alexander Cold and Nadia Santos reunite for their final adventure in Isabel Allende’s celebrated trilogy. This time they are heading to the blazing plains of Kenya, where Alex’s grandmother Kate is writing an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa. Days into the tour, a Catholic missionary approaches the camp in search of companions who have mysteriously disappeared. As the group investigates, they discover a clan of Pygmies and a harsh world of corruption, slavery, and poaching. Alexander and Nadia must trust in the strength of their totemic animal spirits as they launch a spectacular struggle to restore freedom to the Pygmies and return leadership to its rightful hands.

Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti

Yoo Kyung Sung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:17:33 +0000

Every Life Makes a Story Djo has a story: Once he was one of “Titid’s boys,” a vital member of Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s election team, fighting to overthrow military dictatorship in Haiti. Now he is barely alive, the victim of a political firebombing. Jeremie has a story: Convent-educated Jeremie can climb out of the slums of Port-au-Prince. But she is torn between her mother’s hopes and her own wishes for herself … and for Haiti. Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide has a story: A dream of a new Haiti, one in which every person would have a decent life … a house with a roof … clean water to drink … a good plate of rice and beans every day … a field to work in. At Aristide’s request, Djo tells his story to Jeremie — for Titid believes in the power of all of their stories to make change. As Jeremie listens to Djo, and to her own heart, she knows that they will begin a new story, one that is all their own, together.

The Penalty

Rebecca Ballenger — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:24:21 +0000

Paul Faustino, known as the best soccer journalist in the business, reluctantly investigates the disappearance of eighteen-year-old Ricardo, a soccer prodigy known as “El Brujito,” while in alternate chapters a slave in old San Juan becomes a powerful voodoo priest.