Once on this River [Paperback]

Sharon Dennis Wyeth (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Now in Knopf Paperback--the riveting historical novel of a young black girl's shocking discovery of her true heritage. The first eleven years of Monday de Groot's life have been virtually untouched by slavery. But all that changes when Monday and her mother leave the safety of Madagascar and set sail for New York. The year is 1760, and Monday's uncle has been illegally enslaved by a wealthy Dutch family. Only Monday's mother holds the key to his freedom--and a secret book that could change Monday's life forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite "occasionally ponderous execution," said PW, this tale about an African girl's voyage to New York in 1760 to free her illegally enslaved uncle is "otherwise rewarding." Ages 10-13.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8?In this story set in 1760, 11-year-old Monday de Groot accompanies her mother from Madagascar to the woman's former home in colonial New York to prove that her brother, a free black man, has been wrongly sold into slavery. Leslie de Groot is a midwife and herbalist who earns their passage by acting as the ship's doctor. Monday's life to this point has been untouched by the evils of slavery, but as she moves amid the free blacks and the enslaved of New York, she is exposed to them in full measure. Uncle Frederick is ultimately freed, but along the way Monday learns the secret concerning her own birth and takes a stand to help free a young man who is in fact her brother. Period details are intertwined within the slowly moving plot. However, despite the descriptions of the lot of the slaves and the recounting of tragic events, Monday's story is ultimately uninvolving and fails to engage readers. Hints dropped early about Monday's true identity let readers realize long before she does that Leslie de Groot is not her birth mother. When Monday confronts the ship's captain at the story's climax and accuses him of being a slave to his thinking, his capitulation is simply too convenient and abrupt to be believed. Illustrated with prints from wills, newspaper notices of runaway slaves, bills of sale and the like, this is an earnest presentation that just somehow misses the mark. Sandra Forrester's My Home Is Over Jordan (Lodestar, 1997) is a much more compelling story. Wyeth's book does provide a good look at the time and place, and might be useful where historical fiction is in great demand.?Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (December 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679894462
• ISBN-13: 978-0679894469
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,529,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, February 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Once on This River (Hardcover)

This book is about a girl named Monday. She thinks her mother is a free midwife. But when she and her mother go to America from Madagascar to prove Monday's uncle isn't a slave, Monday learns she is really Easter, the daughter of a slave woman, and that she was given to her "mother" so she would grow up free. This is a great book!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow, October 16, 2009

By 

Lost & Found (Philadelphia,PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Once on This River (Hardcover)

It is a great book Im glad that I was able to find it because it is out of print. The only thing that I did not like is that it took 2weeks to arrive if I would have known that I would have rushed order it.