Snatched from the docks of New Orleans, thirteen-year-old Jessie is thrown aboard a slave ship where he must play his fife so that captured slaves will "dance," and keep their muscles strong and their bodies profitable.
Jessie is sickened by the horrible practices of the slave business. But they are nothing compared to the one final horror that Jessie will witness. Can the cruelty be stopped before it's too late?Winner of the Newbery Medal 1974(From the RHCB TI)
I heard one piercing scream. My teeth began to chatter.
Then a very small brown face rose above the rail as though it had flown up from the sea. It continued to rise slowly until its brown bare chest was visible. Then I saw dark hands around its waist. The hands lifted, the little girl's legs flew out, and I saw the head of the young man who had been carrying her.
For a second, she sat on the deck, looking all around her, her eyes huge with amazement, then she crawled and jumped toward the rail but was forced back by the forward propulsion of the man who tottered over the rail, unable, it seemed, to bring his body any further. The child hugged the young man's neck frantically and buried her face in his hair. At that moment, Nicholas Spark bent his thin length and gripped the man's back as though he were gathering up cloth, and yanked him altogether over, the chains around his ankles striking the deck with a violent clanging. The clanging never ceased as one after another the captives struggled over the rail and were dropped or dragged onto the deck. How long did it all take? I'll never know. None of us moved.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Reviews
...
In a tale at once fascinating and horrible, young Jessie suffers capture and indenture on a slave ship. His job is to "dance" the slaves by playing his fife while they're forced to engage in daily movement. Actor Peter MacNicol delivers a powerful reading of this horrific tale. His Captain Cawthorn, terrifying in volume and attitude, creates in the listener the same tension that Jessie feels throughout the journey. Masterfully, MacNicol allows Shipmate Stout's obsequiousness to creep slowly upon the listener while simultaneously revealing the affection behind Shipmate Pervis's defiant gruffness. Packed with emotion, MacNicol's first-person narration in Jessie's voice is moving and believable. Judiciously employed symphonic music and the notes of a lone fife heighten the tension throughout. T.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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