Customer Reviews

Nightjohn (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Reading - what does it mean to you? Many adore that word, and those people happen to be bookworms. But some detest that word, considering that reading is boring. Many people take reading for granted. But for an enslaved person, the ability to read is very powerful.

"Nightjohn" is the tale of a young, female, black slave who learned how to read, and the man who dared break the rules to teach it. Sarny is a curious, little girl, a slave from birth, who resides in the plantation of Mr. Waller during the Civil War. For her, life is the same, until a mysterious black man named John teaches her something new, the ability to read and write. Though the rules forbid that a slave should learn that, Sarney and John risk everything to learn and teach one of man's most powerful tactics.

"Nightjohn" - an inspiring tale set during a time of despair and suffering, when the Civil War tore a nation apart, when people sorrowfully leave their families to do what they believed was right. It was a time when slavery existed, and suffering slaves risk their lives to seek freedom.

Short and fast-moving (only 90 pages), "Nightjohn" has an important message. Many people can learn from this story. It teaches that words are the most powerful weapon that can be used against injustice and corruption. The book acuratelly portrays the cruel and violent life of a slave during 1800s America, and the despairs and hopes they kept during a horrible time. "Nightjohn" will convince you that slavery should never have existed!

This story is an intense and graphic account of the brutal conditions endured by slaves. The "Master" exerted extreme control over all facets of the slaves' lives, including eating, sleeping, and reproduction. Horrific punishments were dealt out to those who violated any of the rules. I found this short book moving and affecting, illuminating the inhuman conditions the slaves endured.
However, this book was assigned to my 10-year old son as summer reading. This book is grossly inappropriate for children. Despite its brevity, this book is way too intense for children, dealing with a topic that is better suited to high school.

Iam a big Gary Paulsen fan. Im trying to read all of his books. I started reading Hatchet in 5th grade. Ive read, about 5 of his books, and soon found out that he has a wide selection of more books. I just finished "NightJohn". I thought this book was very well written. I understood it very well. But I do recommened something before you read this book. I am an 8th grader, and I have just finished studying in my History class about the Civil War , and slavery, and I recommened that you should learn alittle about the Civil War, and slavery before you read this book. Because you wouldn`t understand it if you didn`t know about. I liked this book alot. The semi- part life time tale of Sarny. Sarny is a young black slave who is born into a plantation in the South. She tells the story in a very "horrific" way I think. She tells of her "master" and how badly they are treaten. I gave this book 5 stars for its well written contents. I almost was going to give it 4 stars because of the continual cursing. But by all means, this is a great book , and I would buy it again.

I had to read Nightjohn for school and it was a truly fabulous book. Gary Paulsen did a great job crafting this. The book is about 12 year old slave Sarny, that lives on a plantation with her caretaker Mammy. One day the mean old master buys a slave named John. Sarny makes a deal with John that she will give him tobacco if he will teach her to read and write. This he does. She learns letters and them spells a word. The master finds her writing and whips Mammy and cuts off two of John's toes.

This is a great book for black history month and a great book to read all year round. I highly reccomend this book for a lover of slave fiction, Gary Paulsen, or a great read. Buy and enjoy this great book. Be sure to catch the film adaption of the book on the Disney Channel.

HAPPY READING

What a great book! I disagree with the reviews above when they say that the violence is redundant and excessive. Truth is, life was really like that on the plantation. The reader is almost transported back in time. This book is a good contrast to many history books that tend to downplay the intense cruelty inflicted on southern slaves. My recommendation? Take this book with you to Williamsburg, VA and ask the tour guides questions about it as they tell you how "well treated" the slaves were.

Night John Gary Paulsen
Bantam Doubleday Dell



Have you ever read a story about a person being abused and not being very well taken care of, well you should read the book Night John, because this book is interesting in the way that other people have gotten hurt and how things use to happen when people had done something wrong and did not obey what they were being told to do. If you like books that are interesting and that are about slavery, Not in the way that you agree about slavery, just the fact that it is something that may grab your attention. These books are kind of mind sweeping your mind away, and they just make you want to read more and more until you finish the book.

In this book you will discover the life of the african american people and you will find that life now is not nearly as bad as it was when there were slaves in the world. In my own opinion I think that we are much better off than the slaves were, and that the slaves are not because they had to listen to their master, and if they didn't, then toe was chopped of of each foot, or they had to be whipped with a leather whip on the back until the skin was hanging off.

If you are interested in this book, than that is great, because the book will grow on you and you will feel grateful for what you have an will be happy that you are not in what they have in their life. You should read this book, because it is a book that will make you want to be somebody that can help these people that are doing absolutely nothing and they do not deserve what they are getting for a treatment. It will be a jaw dropping book, that will catch your attention in the second that you even look at the book even the title will give you a good idea of what the book may be about.

I think you nshould read Night John by Gary Paulsen because this book is about slavery. Personally, I like the part with the quarters because the slaves make a lamp from pork fat and a bowl that was pretty cool. Also in the book, the slaves have a lot of rules like they can not have any lights on, no praying, reading, and no writing. As well, there are punishments too. If you read or write you will get your thumb or toes cut off or smashed off. If you pray and have a light on you will probably get yelled at or whipped.
You should read Night John because it is about slaves. For instance, the things we did to them. Like we cut off body parts, killed them, whipped them, and chased them. I think that is not right and not nice.
Also, I did not know some of the things they did like chasing them with dogs and cutting off body parts if they read or if they wrote. Also, there is something I know, like they whipped them. When you read this book you can learn more about slaves and what they did to them.
Did you know it was against the law for slaves to read because if the slaves read then they will want to run their lives and try to escape. In other words, I am glad they can read now and run their lives because they only have one.
This book is very interesting. It is a good book so yo should read it. Also, you should read it because there is lot of parts that are about slaves. There are funny parts and sad parts. Also, gross parts (if you like that). That is why you should read Night John!

What would you do if you never knew how to read or write? In Sarny's case, a young slave in the book Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, she had always wanted to be able to read and write. Since she was a slave, Sarny could never learn how to read or write. She could never learn until John, a slave that her master had bought. John then began teaching her how to read and write. Quickly she learned a letter every night, when everyone was asleep. After a couple of days she learned more about John's past. She learned reading and writing until he ran North promising Sarny that we would return.
I have really enjoyed reading this short and memorable story. It has really changed the way I think about slavery. It is so cruel what the master will do to some of Sarny's friends. Read this book to find out if John returns. You will not regret reading this awesome historical-fiction!

Nightjohn is a very exiting book. This book is about a 14-year-old slave named Sarny who meets a slave who ran away to the north, but came back to teach slaves how to read. Sarny is very excited about learning to read. I would recommend this book to boys or girls 8-11 years old. I liked this book because it kept you on the edge of your seat.

Bosses big house, breeding sheds, an dthe whipping barns are some of the buildings on the plantation that NightJohn and the rest of the African Americans come into contact with everyday.
In NightJohn by Gary Paulsen there is a white southerner slave owner named Waller.Waller buys a slave named NightJohn and brings him to his plantation. At this plantation he meets up with another enslaved young girl named Sarny.NightJohn makes a deal with her and his trade is that he will teach her to readand write. Waller catches Sarny writing words in the sand and the reat of the book is filled with sadness and hard times for Sarny and NightJohn.
This book was great. I liked it for the detailsin the writing and for the suprise ending. The reason i liked the wrkiting is because of the detailed description the author gave of the plantation. I think that this book had such an effect on me that I will never forget NightJohn's courage.This book reminds me of the time thatI went to Florida because on the way back we tour of a Georgia plantation.I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about history because this book is about a part of our history that most of us would like to forget.