Reading and Resting...
The head cold that won’t die has been plaguing our household. We’re taking turns passing the tissues and napping. One of the up-sides of all this rest is that I had the chance to read Christopher Paul Curtis’s latest book, ELIJAH OF BUXTON. I deeply respect writers who can really nail a child’s voice and perspective in a realistic way, and ELIJAH does just that. Elijah, the eleven year old main character, is the first child born into freedom in the town of Buxton. Buxton is a settlement of runaway slaves in Canada, just over the river from Detroit. Elijah leaves the safety of Buxton on a daring mission, and makes this observation:
“Once we got off the ferry in Detroit I looked back over to Canada.
I ain’t disputing that I’m a whole lot smarter than most children who are near ‘bout twelve years old, but I couldn’t for anything see how come a river made so much difference. How come one side of the river mean you were free and the other side mean you were a slave?
When you looked at the trees in Canada and the trees in America they seemed to be the same trees, like they could’ve come out of one seed. Same with the rocks and the houses and the horses and everything else I could compare, but the growned folks could see big differences that waren’t plain to me.”
The character of Elijah is developed so beautifully, with humor and touching detail… what a wonderful book.
“Once we got off the ferry in Detroit I looked back over to Canada.
I ain’t disputing that I’m a whole lot smarter than most children who are near ‘bout twelve years old, but I couldn’t for anything see how come a river made so much difference. How come one side of the river mean you were free and the other side mean you were a slave?
When you looked at the trees in Canada and the trees in America they seemed to be the same trees, like they could’ve come out of one seed. Same with the rocks and the houses and the horses and everything else I could compare, but the growned folks could see big differences that waren’t plain to me.”
The character of Elijah is developed so beautifully, with humor and touching detail… what a wonderful book.