Jesse, who has never given much thought to slavery, recoils at the treatment of the slaves, treatment that was typical for its time, I suspect. Paula Fox does an especially good job of delving into the psyches of the men who voluntarily serve on the ship's crew, people who are not evil by nature, but whose constant rejection of the horror of slavery has inured them to normal human emotion.

A shipwreck during the book's course leads towards a somewhat dubious conclusion. For the most part, though, Fox skillfully carries us into the experience on the ship. We smell the stench, feel the claustrophobic crowding, and experience disbelief and outrage right along with Jesse. This book is a reminder of the unspeakable horrors that people -- even so-called decent people -- can inflict upon each other.


The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox   February 21, 2000
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I read this novel when it was assigned to my child's fifth grade class. The book provides vivid imagery of a young boy's kidnapping and forced servitude aboard a slave ship. Fox's skillful narrative style is filled with detailed description and allegory. However, I must strongly disagree with Amazon's (and the publisher's?) classification of the novel as a book for 9-12 year olds. The vocabulary is so difficult that myself and my husband, both of us well read, college educated people, did not know some of the words. It also deals with cruel happenings and racism in such a way that I believe make the book suitable only for more mature readers. Therefore, I would recommend this chronicle only for readers 13 years and older.


Easy reading for those who might best benefit from it   October 26, 2002
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

A mid-70's Newbery winner, and a gem. With Out of the Dust, and Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, the very finest Newbery has to offer in historical fiction. The reading level may be late elementary or early middle school, but the content calls for later middle school or high school. The details of abducting and carrying slaves, their treatment at the hands of their transporters, the crude and often cruel behavior of the ship's crew, and the horrors of shipboard life make the themes tough for sensitive younger readers. It will provide a young reader with a thoroughly unsettling look at an unseemly part of American history. The main character, the white boy kidnapped from the streets of New Orleans in 1840 to play his fife to encourage the slaves to dance, is a good, clear, child's view of things, properly aghast and open-minded, the pleasant part of the story and its first person teller. What Slave Dancer gives is brilliant in its clarity and horror. I recommend it highly with the caveats above.


The Slave Dancer   May 2, 2000
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I chose the book The Slave Dancer By: Paula Fox. This book wasvery interesting to me. It is about a boy who is leading a normallife, and runs an errand for his mother. While he is gone, somesailors kidnap him. When he discovers where he is, it is too late. They have already taken him into the sea. He lives on a boat, which is used to transport slaves, as a ship boy for months. Jessie, the main character, is a good-hearted boy and has trouble being involved in the slave trade. At one point, he is beaten because of his compassion towards the future African slaves. Eventually most of the slaves die, he actually watches some of them be thrown overboard, both living and dead. In the end, the boat sinks, but Jessie and a little boy that he had bonded with earlier survive. However, this book truly hits home with many thoughts of racism today. The discussion of the slaves in general is very good for a child to hear. It portrays how the slaves were treated and how young innocent white boys were made to help in the torture of the slaves. When Jessie feels compassion towards them and is beaten for it, this explains a lot. The captain and others try to make Jessie feel hatred towards these African slaves. This is the way that many people were brought up. With these negative attitudes people have, many of them are raising their children the same way. I think that Paula Fox did a wonderful job of portraying this idea. I looked at this book as a "book people" book. The book is telling the truth in every way possible. It uses great detail in describing some of the events. It even gets gory in some parts. Not many children's books do this, and get by with it. It actually has a Grimm brothers sort of approach. Fox tells things the way they were; she does not "soften" them up for the children. The other side, however, would say the book was not fit for children due to the gore of it and even some language. In an article written by Sarah Hinlicky entitled "Don't Write About Race", she discusses the topic of race in writing, including children's literature. Hinlicky gives many good reasons why people don't write about racial issues. Hinlicky says that one of the main reasons is fear. She says that "the wise writer observes the rules and politely declines to write about race." This keeps them from being tortured and ridiculed for writing about racial issues. In the end of the article she proposes a very powerful statement: Black America and white America are different cultures, these cultures still distrust one another. Moving across color lines also means moving across culture lines...Maybe there's an answer I've found, but I think I'd better quit now, since I'm not supposed to be writing about race in the first place. This statement is important in saying how people think they aren't supposed to discuss the topic. I think it is almost challenging for people to look at it in Hinlicky's light. I think I take a book people stand. Children need to know the truth in the history of acts such as this. They cannot keep the truth from the children, or that will lead to children who have racial tension. Many children today are misinformed of this part of history. Both black children and white children are confused with their facts in this matter. Fox describes Jessie's story very well. Jessie is made to feel hatred towards these slaves. He is given no choice. This is the way many children are today. They believe what they hear from their parents, teachers, and books. Some of this information may be true, but most of it just confuses the children even more. The Slave Dancer should be an important part of education everywhere in America. It tells the story well, of both the slaves and the people who were forced to help in their trade. Hinlicky's article would also be a good article to teach children as a reference to The Slave Dancer.