Customer Reviews

Amistad Rising: A Story of Freedom

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It was in 1839 and slavery was still prominent and legal. Many slave owners had become very rich from selling human beings and wanted to continue this way of life. Amistad Rising is written and published in a way that allows readers to visualize and imagine what life would be like for and African-American during the time of slavery. The reader is also allowed to identify with the main character Joseph Clinque and witness the events that occurred in his life. The reader is also made aware of how he was able to empower himself to settle the conflicts in his life. I believe this book would definitely appeal to students in grades six and up. Not only are they provided with the history of Amistad, but they are invited to relate to it's main character. It is important for students to read books that have a historical background about mistreatments of others and how conflicts can be resolved without violent measures. This book would be a great tie-in for a unit on slavery. When reading about slavery in history texts, it is sometimes hard for students to visualize the events being discussed or attach a human emotion to the event. I believe the illustrations in this book provide that for the students.

Basically, there is no way I am going to show the movie "Amistad" to my little children. Kids vary, but 10th or 11th grade is about the youngest I would permit.

That said, the story is one that kids enjoy knowing; this book is a good way to transmit the story. The illustrations give you the sense of being IN the book -- they are zoomed in, giving the book an immediacy that grabs children's eyes.

Until 1997 and the release of Spielberg's grand film, AMISTAD, I had never heard of the Amistad uprising. That movie, through a mix of fact and fiction, piqued my interest and I began reading and researching all I could about the Amistad. That search led to me learning a great deal more about African-American History than I had ever learned before. In the way the movie piqued my interest, AMISTAD RISING will pique younger student's interest in not only the Amistad, but a host of other subjects as well. The book itself is fairly short and contains some very powerful illustrations. The text skimps on the facts of the Amistad and relies a great deal upon the author's imagination to tell the story of Cinque. Nevertheless, there is enough factual information that children can learn something without becoming bored with the specifics of historical data. This is a wonderful book and children are fascinated by the pictures. Great reading for African-American History Month.