Summary:
Light
in the Darkness tells the story
of a young slave girl named Rosa and her mother as they attempt to
learn how to read in a secret pit school. The story begins in the
dead of night with Rosa and her mother sneaking away from their slave
quarters. They come to a pit where they are lowered in by other
slaves and a literate slave named Morris teaches Rosa, her mother and
the other slaves gathered the first few letters of the alphabet.
Learning
to read is very dangerous for the slaves as Rosa recalls an incident
where their master whipped another slave once for each letter she
learned to read. Rosa is very excited about learning, and is good
about keeping what she knows very quiet. Rosa and her mother sneak
off a few times with out incident, but on one evening the group is
almost spotted by the slave patrols. It is decided that the school
must stop temporarily until it is safe again. Rosa waits several
days but grows more and more impatient as she is read to start making
words with all the letters she has learned. One night she wakes her
mother up instead fo her mother waking her and they return to Morris
in the pit school. It seems as though no one else will show up,
until they hear footsteps near by. They think it may be the patrol
again, but a friendly bird whistle reveals it it is more slaves to
join the school. They help the newcomers into the pit and Rosa
teaches a new girl how to spell her name.
Cline-Ransome,
L. (2013). Light in the darkness. New
York, NW: Disney Jump at the Sun Books.
My
Impressions:
This
is a great book and the watercolor illustrations are really
impressive. Even though it is a short and simple read the subject
mater and first person narrative along with the visuals really builds
tension and illustrates one of the darker periods of US history. The
story makes me want to research more on the slave pit schools as
well.
Reviews:
A
slave mother and her daughter learn to read in
spite
of the
great
danger inherent in
their
enterprise. Rosa's mother awakens her at night to walk to a "pit
school," a hole dug in
the ground
and covered over where slaves gather to learn their ABC's. Their
teacher is a fellow slave who had been taught to read. The
patrollers
make their journey perilous. Still, the
men,
women and children gather as often as they can. Cline-Ransome
sensitively
tells the
story
from Rosa's viewpoint, endowing her with a yearning and determination
that overcome her mother's weariness and fear. The
author
learned of these schools while researching her book on Frederick
Douglass, Words Set Me Free (2012). In
this
tale, she makes the
point
that learning was not just a dream of a few famous and accomplished
men and women, but one that belonged to ordinary folk willing to risk
their lives. Ransome's
full-page
watercolor paintings—in
beautiful
shades of blue for the
night
and yellow for theday--are
a window, albeit somewhat gentle, into a slave's life for younger
readers. A compelling story about those willing to risk "[a]
lash for each letter." (author's note, further reading) (Picture
book. 5-8)
[Review
of the book Light
in the Darkness by
L. Cline-Ransome].
(2012). Kirkus
Reviews,
80(23),
57. Retrieved from
https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=83766992&scope=site
Usage
in a Library Setting:
This
story could easily be used as part of a program on the history of
slavery in the US. One of the social studies teachers at my school
plays an underground railroad game with his students every year while
teaching his slavery section. A game such as that or a modified pit
school version could be created to go along with this book to educate
and interact with patrons.
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