About This Book

"From Wyeth, an interesting historical novel set in an African-American community made up of slaves and free blacks in New York City and the Hudson River Valley circa 1760. Monday de Groot, 11, narrates; she is the daughter of a Madagascan midwife who is returning to her American birthplace to seek the release of her brother Frederick, who has been enslaved. On the voyage, Monday sees how the 'cargo' Angolan and Sudanese slaves are treated. Later, she also learns that the woman she thinks of as her mother was actually the midwife at her birth, to whose care Monday's slave mother entrusted her newborn in a desperate attempt to save the child from slavery. Wyeth's passion for the period and for passages are evocative....A mixed effort, with many impressive moments". Kirkus Reviews