Juan J. Guerra

SLIS 5960.001

5/22/02

Multicultural Literature Activity

Young Adult Book:

Slave Dancer – Paula Fox -1973

A Newbery Medal Book

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Jessie Bollier is a 13 year old boy who lives in New Orleans. To earn some money, Jessie would play his fife near the docks of New Orleans. One day Jessie is kidnapped and was sent on a horrendous trip on a slave ship named The Moonlight. He was taken along so that he could play his fife and make the slaves dance with his music. By making the slave dance, the slave stayed healthy and strong. Unfortunately Jesse could not understand that these slaves were being traded or that they were owned people. Jessie witnesses the mistreatment of the slaves. At first he can not comprehend what was going on. Slowly Jessie began to finally realize that these people were being forced to come from Africa to the United. Many of the time Jesse was so affected by the tortures that these slaves had to go thru. Without him even knowing, Jessee and Ras (his only friend in the ship) were about to be free when The Moonlight started to sink. They were the only two survivors of this shipwreck. Once they got to land, they met Daniel who would become their friend. Jessie soon left Ras and Daniel and went back to New Orleans knowing full well that his life had changed forever. He felt he was scared for life with that he had gone thru. The days of him playing his fife were gone because it would only remind him of the days in The Moonlight.

Paula Fox- Author

Paula Fox was born in New York City in 1923 All thru her childhood, Paula moved with her family from place to place ranging from California to Cuba. Paula is best known for her children’s books but has published some adult novels. One of her unfortunate traits is that she is known to create characters in the novels that go thru some pain and suffering. Paula Fox has had numerous awards such as Newbery Medal, American Book Award, Child Study Children’s book Award, and Newbery Honor Book among other awards and nominations.

Before Reading Activity

• Discuss the term “slave” with the audience.
• Have the students discuss their understanding of slavery.
• Have the students draw their interpretation of how a slave trade ship might look like.

After Reading Activity

• Discuss the slave trade period in America.
• For what were these slaves being traded
• Have student find information regarding the laws that the United States government had toward importing slaves.