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In 1807, at the height of the slave trade, Ajeemah and his son, Atu, are snatched by slave traders from their home in Africa while en route to deliver a dowry to Atu's bride-to-be. Ajeemah and Atu are then taken to Jamaica and sold to neighboring plantations'never to see one another again. "Readers will come away with a new sense of respect for those who maintained their dignity and humanity under the cruelest of circumstances."'SLJ. "Each moment here of the Jamaican-born poet's terse, melodious narrative is laden with emotion. . . . Brilliant, complex, powerfully written."--K. Notable Children's Book of 1993 (ALA)
1993 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1993 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
1992 Books for Youth Editors' Choices (BL)
Notable 1992 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Bulletin Blue Ribbons 1992 (C)
1993 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
Children's Books of 1992 (Library of Congress)
1993 Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award
Ajeemah and His Son ANNOTATION A father and his eighteen-year-old son are each affected differently by their experiences as slaves in Jamaica in the early nineteenth century.
FROM THE PUBLISHER In 1807, at the height of the slave trade, Ajeemah and his son Atu are kidnapped by slave traders from their homeland in Africa. Their destiny is now the barbaric slave trade of the New World.
Upon arrival in Jamaica, father and son are separated and sold to neighboring plantations. Divided by only twenty miles, they will never see one another again. With all lost, even humanity, Ajeemah and his son must find a way to endure the harsh realities of their new life. FROM THE CRITICS Children's Literature - Susie Wilde In 1807 the wealthy, proud, joker Ajeemah accompanies his son Atu to the home of his bride-to-be to offer a dowry. Ajeemah has hidden gold in his sandals to surprise the bride's family. It is Ajeemah and Atu who are surprised by slave traders. And after that it is the reader who is surprised. Surprised that Berry can pack so much history and feeling into only 83 pages, surprised that the dreams and hopes of two men can be so tragically shattered, surprised that the spare text holds so much richness, and continually surprised by the events of Berry's story and the way he tells it.
Children's Literature - Judy Silverman A realistic look at slavery, from the dreadful voyage to the market in Jamaica, where humans are sold like so many horses, to the plantations where black overseers are often as cruel as the white masters. Ajeemah and his son are sold to different men, and while the older man eventually is lost in the misery of slavery, the young man can think of nothing but escape. The result, while predictable, is no less horrible for that. The victims are real humans; the villains are less so, but at the same time they are understandable as products of their time. Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner and an ALA Notable Book.
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