Children's Literature - Susie Wilde
This book is an astounding fictional study of the African-American Lewis family traced through two hundred and forty years. Myers wrote this novel to express the changes he saw in the texture of life from one generation to another. He succeeds brilliantly because of the authenticity of his characters; from Muhammad, brought in leg irons from Sierra Leone, Africa, to Curry Island, South Carolina, in 1753, to his descendant, urban-dweller Malcolm, who blends techniques to compose his own kind of music in 1994, and battles to bring his drug-addicted cousin to their family reunion. Myers never lectures; he only creates a stage for his heros and heroines to tell history. His characters expose differences of culture and sentiment by their actions and decisions, while struggling against the societal constraints of each period. They all show love for, and pride in, a family that builds a reputation of self-respect and determination through successive generations.
The Glory Field
by Walter Dean MyersView All Available Formats & Editions
"Those shackles didn't rob us of being black, son, they robbed us of being human."
This is the story of one family. A family whose history saw its first ancestor captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa. A family who can still see remnants of the shackles that held some of its members captive -- even today. It is a story of pride, determination,
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"Those shackles didn't rob us of being black, son, they robbed us of being human."
This is the story of one family. A family whose history saw its first ancestor captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa. A family who can still see remnants of the shackles that held some of its members captive -- even today. It is a story of pride, determination, struggle, and love. And of the piece of the land that holds them together throughout it all.
Editorial Reviews
Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr
In the tradition of Roots, Myers's novel follows one African-American family starting with its patriarch, Muhammad Bilal, who came to America in 1753 aboard a slave ship, to the present day Lewis family. Generation-skipping vignettes focus on the struggles of this family to maintain both their dignity and their precious land base, the Glory Field on Curry Island, South Carolina. Critical turning points in African-American history motivate each short glimpse into the Lewis psyche: emancipation during the Civil War; emigration North to the cities; and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. While some of the incidents cry out for a book of their very own, Myers has managed to sketch a valid portrait of the subject through his microcosm family.
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780545055758
- Publisher:
- Scholastic, Inc.
- Publication date:
- 05/01/2008
- Edition description:
- Reprint
- Pages:
- 400
- Sales rank:
- 105,774
- Product dimensions:
- 5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.90(d)
- Age Range:
- 12 - 17 Years
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