Customer Reviews

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

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I'm surprised to see very few reviews posted here for this excellent award-winning work of historical fiction for middle readers. This Scott O'Dell Award winner about African-American life in the South is in the same tradition as the renowned "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" books by Mildred Taylor.

Here we get on an emotional roller-coaster ride as we follow the lives of three young ex-slaves during the early days of Reconstruction in 1865. Gideon returns from following General Sherman to his former plantation to retrieve his younger crippled brother, Pascal, and his orphaned friend Nelly. In their quest to find the "forty acres and maybe a mule" in Georgia, that had been promised by General Sherman, they befriend a grandfatherly carpenter, and his long-lost granddaughter, to create a new family.

The harsh realities of unjust treatment by white nightriders, who are trying to force emancipated slaves to return to their plantations, are tempered by various friendly white people who help them find their forty acres, open a school for the children, register them to vote, who become neighbors, etc.

This is a story of determination, hard work, rebuilding lives and families, of hope, peace, and love, in the face of discrimination and cruelty.

A seldom recognized historical fact is woven into this well-researched tale: the party of Lincoln, the Republican Party, was the original party of Civil Rights. The impact of the death of Lincoln on these emancipated slaves that were given land is dramatically portrayed here. And the quick backpedaling of his successor, Andrew Johnson, becomes a painful reality for nearly 39,000 black landowners just months after he takes office.

This book deserves a wider reading by upper elementary through middle school students and their teachers, especially when discussing the facts surrounding the impact of the Civil War and early Reconstruction efforts in the South.

Pasacal, a slave boy who's about twelve years old, was born with a withered hand and leg, so he never did heavy work. Now that the Civil War is over, Pascal and his older brother, Gideon, and nine year old Nelly, a slave from their plantation, decide to claim the forty acres and a mule being offered to former slaves. They don't get the mule, but they do get the forty acres, and Pascal is determined to help out in building their new home. Can Pascal, his brother, and little Nelly, who's like a sister to him, build a life outside slavery? Read this great book to find out!

The events in this book kept me on the edge of mt seat. My emotions were in constant turmoil. At times I found myself full of joy and hope for the City family. The very next moment, I was experiencing fear and sorrow, not knowing whether the family could survive the constant dangers presented by the nightriders. A major theme throughout this book is man against society. Robinet allows the reader to enter the world of ex-slaves during the reconstruction period. The reader is able to experience the fears and the joys of the characters. The true historical events presented help the reader to understand the brutality of slavery. Readers can also see that this brutality did not end when President Lincoln freed the slaves. Readers can also see how the characters changed during the telling of this story. Pascal learns that he is a worthwhile person even though he has a physical disability. Gideon learns that he is a man whether or not he owns land. He and the others learn that freedom is about having dignity. The land can be taken, but freedom can't be taken away from you.

The events in this book kept me on the edge of my seat. My emotions were in constant turmoil. At times I found myself full of joy and hope for the City family. The very next moment, I was experiencing fear and sorrow, not knowing whether the family could survive the constant dangers presented by the nightriders. A major theme throughout this book is man against society. Robinet allows the reader to enter the world of ex-slaves during the reconstruction period. The reader is able to experience the fears and the joys of the characters. The true historical events presented help the reader to understand the brutality of slavery. Readers can also see that this brutality did not end when President Lincoln freed the slaves. Readers can also see how the characters changes during the telling of this story. Pascal learns that he is a worthwhile person even though he has a physical disability. Gideon learns that he is a man whether or not he owns land. He and the other ex-slaves learn that freedom is about having dignity. The land can be taken, but freedom can't be taken away from you.

Forty Acres And Maybe A Mule is such a moving story. It will move you to make you dreams come true. It would be excellent for a bed time story!!! It makes you feel like you are the person playing in the book!!!!!!!During slavery time period slaves lived hard lives.This book shows how to learn and rise with knowlege. Buy It Today!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jose
DME

40 Acres and Maybe a Mule is a great book, and I really enjoyed it. It is a very heartfelt story about a boy that's 12 years old named Pascal. His brother, Gideon, about 16 years old, finally shows back up at the plantation after two years of being gone. He says the slaves have been freed. Pascal gets his 8 year old friend Nelly and tells her to pack up. They're going to leave to freedom. They leave their plantation and eventually end up in Georgia, where they get a land grant. They find their land and start a beatuiful home with the cotton crops flourishing. Despite the great wealth of cotton and their new home, they never get a mule. But more and more slaves are losing their homes. The book gives a great message of hope, belonging, and friendship as their family grows and Pascal learns the true meaning of freedom.

I enjoyed this book. There were a few parts that were confusing and I had to go back and reread the chapter. This book did include historical information. The author detailed the Reconstruction period. This story was very suspenseful. I kept expecting something really bad to happen. There was sadness, but no great devastation along the way. I am not too sure that students in 6th-8th grade would enjoy reading this book. I would recommend this book to high school aged students.

I've been looking for a way to show Reconstruction to my kids, keeping the suspense and danger, but without TOO much terror. Stephen Budiansky's "The Bloody Shirt" is ok for older ikids or adults, but there isn't much on this time period for younger children.

"Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule" fills this niche admirably. Every character fulfills a classic stereotype -- Gideon, the careless dreamer; Pascal, the wise child; Nelly, the New Age connector; Mr. Freedman, the voice of experience; Gladness, the self-sufficient beauty. This makes for good reading.

Told mostly in vernacular, it is good to read this book out loud. The story does present the conflict in ways children can understand: the instant freedom for blacks left them unprepared for economic success; the destruction of the war left the whites impoverished and desperate; cooperation among people was the best chance for rebuilding.

Parent notes: non-standard English; shooting and whipping; the murder of Pascal's mother; suggestions of sexual assaults on pretty black women. Certainly shines the light of truth on the blatant racism and anti-black violence of democrats.

The event in this story happened in the early of the reconstruction period of South America. It was about Pascal, 12-year-old a young black slave, and his family reaching for their own land. Gideon,Pascal's brother who had left a plantation of a white master which he used to live with Pascal, came back to invite his younger brother and his orphaned friend Nelly to escape there with him. They were motivated to have their own land by a promise of "forty acres and maybe a mule" from the Bureau of Refugees. Along the way, hey searched for other friends to create a new family friends. Finally, they pick up an older man calling himself Mr. Freedman, and his granddaughter, Gladness t. Pascal and his new family have imagine any of it could ever come true. After a long, hard journey, they find most exciting of all, a promise to give the land. They got the land forty acres in Georgia, and planed many plants. However, their great dream no longer stayed, when its nearly harvest time, a government said that slaves must gave back their land.
This is a story of determination, hard work, create a new lives and family, of hope, peace, and love, in a cruelty society. "forty acres and maybe a mule" seemed to be their new life that they had dreamed and fight for it all their hard journey. I think the writer, Robinet, allow the reader to enter the world of slaves that there are many obstacles during the reconstruction period. Moreover, the society is cruelty and unfair for them because of racism. I'm very impressed in Pascal characteristic because he learns that he is a worthwhile person even though he has a weak physical. About Gideon, he learns that he is a man whether or not he has no land, so he should lives with dignity although he is a black. He believes that human should have the courage to strike for their own right in this society. He and others learn that freedom is about having dignity. They never discouraged for the obstacles. They made me to think to a real life that although the land can be taken, but freedom can't be taken away from them.