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.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Reviews

McKissack's (The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll) story about a Malian boy abducted and sold into slavery has frightening moments, but carries dignity and even triumph away from them. 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. McKissack's free verse incorporates a Greek chorus of the elements Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind, who watch over the infant Musafa and assist his father, Dinga, in his blacksmith's work, but cannot save Musafa after he is brought to the New World. He surfaces in South Carolina, a gifted blacksmith like his father, and Wind, which has made itself into a hurricane to cross the ocean, is at last able to bring word to Dinga of his beloved son: "Though a slave, he lives!" Readers learn Musafa's owner may free him, but "In my mind," Wind hears Musafa say, "I have always been free,/ As free as Wind." The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both. All ages. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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."