Chasing the North Star is the story of a slave named Jonah who learns to read as he serves his master’s children, listening in on their lessons. He is whipped when he is found reading in the hayloft, accused of stealing a book he was given by the mistress. Humiliated and hurt, Jonah decides impulsively to leave with a few coins, a knife, and little else but his wits—which are a considerable asset. Along the way, Jonah is joined by a young woman named Angel, who believes that following a mostly unwilling Jonah will take her north as surely as following the star or the list of names Jonah treasures. The perilous journey of these two young people winds and twists along, tossing them together and pulling them apart again and again.

 

Compelling and nail-biting, this historical novel will keep you reading long after the north star appears. Those who enjoyed The Invention of Wings and The Last Runaway would also like this book.

Worthy Brown's is a black man who lives in Oregon just after statehood. He was brought there by his master, and by his reckoning and the new laws he is a free man. But his master, a slimy lawyer named Caleb Barbour who is connected to all the most powerful men in the territory, insists that Worthy must work for him for an additional year to free himself and his daughter. And so Worthy puts in the time, but at the end of his toil, Barbour refuses to release his daughter, Roxanne. These are the fact which Worthy lays before Matthew Perry, the man he asks to be his lawyer. 

 

The strengths of this book lie in its closely observed characters and in the courtroom battles that propel much of the action. Engaging and interesting, this book will be loved by fans of Lonesome Dove and by those who enjoy courtroom drama.

Sarah Grimke is a precocious girl who runs amok in her father’s library and revels in lessons in Latin and debate with her brother Thomas. Taught to think for herself, but raised in a society in which a freethinking woman is an aberration, Sarah is unaware of what her transition to adulthood will require her to give up. Her first hint arrives when she is presented with a gift on her eleventh birthday: a skinny, clever slave girl named Handful by her Mauma, but called Hetty by her masters. Sarah is appalled at the idea of owning another human being, and writes up a refusal of the gift, but there is no giving Handful back.

 

And so the two girls are thrown together. Well-matched intellectually, they live in two worlds that exist uneasily under the same roof. If Handful is a minor disaster as a lady’s maid, Sarah is no more accomplished a master. To assuage her conscience, Sarah teaches Handful to read; a freedom of the mind that Handful soaks up, delights in, and continues to learn, even after being whipped. Handful sasses back, takes a few odds and ends, runs scams, and speaks her mind, just like her Mauma, Charlotte does. Handful becomes an excellent seamstress and quilter, also like Charlotte, and the two express themselves by creating a story quilt that tells the travails of Mauma’s life. In the meantime, Sarah’s stutter worsens as the noose of proper female behavior tightens around her neck.

 

Sarah and her sister Angelina eventually become famous orators on abolition and women’s rights, attracting a diverse crowd and finally, freeing her voice. Handful’s journey is marked with violence, crippling setbacks, moments of beauty, and a growing determination to get free or die trying.

 

I read this book in 2 days. There was no putting it down. Its strengths lie in the character studies of the two girls, and in their voices which, in alternating chapters, tell the story. Another forte of the book is the extensive research that the author has done bringing the historical characters, Sarah and Nina Grimke, to life.

 

(I have read in some other reviews that there is a version of this book in which Oprah’s notes are reproduced all over the text. I did not read the book in this version, and am glad I didn’t. If you purchase this book, and I would recommend that you do, you will want to be aware of which version you are purchasing, annotated or not. Personally, like the characters in this book, I prefer to use my OWN mind.)

The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis (?)

CS Lewis addresses the British public in this short essay on his feelings about the removal of teaching values in the school system. The use of elegant rhetoric is superb, on par with what I would expect from such a reputable writer.

Lewis argues in favour of a set of Universal values, one that a modern education system 'shies' from teaching. He believes certain responses to the nature of man are more appropriate and just than others, and tries to merit them through examples of multiple religious teachings. While I largely agree that trained emotional responses is a critical part of intelligence, the vehicle by which one must find this training is arguable.

Lewis outlines these values briefly in the final 20 pages, drawing from the Tao and ten commandments. Every time I read a list of 'universal' truths, they make me squirm the same way watching the Days of Wine & Roses makes me wonder what else we resign to in the name of tradition and 'values'. I enjoyed entertaining Lewis's notions for an evening, and hope to to learn more from him in future reads.