The Song of the Molimo [Hardcover]

Jane Cutler (Author)

Book Description

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

"Open ye gates! Swing wide ye portals! . . . Behold the achievements of your race . . . " - David Francis, president, Louisiana Purchase Exposition

It is 1904 and twelve-year-old Harry has traveled all the way from Kansas to spend six weeks visiting the World's Fair in St. Louis. And although he doesn't know exactly what to expect when he steps off the train onto the platform, it certainly is not to see his older cousin Frederick in the company of five African Pygmies. Frederick, an anthropologist, has come to the station to pick up Harry and ends up being put in charge of the Pygmies, who have also just arrived, but to be exhibited at the fair. Harry couldn't care less about Frederick or his Pygmies and makes himself an ambitious agenda for sightseeing. Yet, over the next days, one thing or another keeps bringing him back to the Pygmies. It is through a friendship with one in particular - Ota Benga - and a growing respect for his cousin that Harry begins to challenge his own ideas about race and evolution. Filled with vivid characters, The Song of the Molimo is a picturesque, action-packed novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set during the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, this novel combines a highly original premise with meticulous research but proves uneven. The story begins in Africa, where illegal slave traders capture Ota Benga, a Pygmy, and sell him to an American explorer for display in the Fair. Meanwhile, Harry, a 12-year-old from Kansas, pays a six-week visit to his St. Louis relatives. Through his anthropologist cousin, Frederick, Harry slowly forges a friendship with Ota, disguising him for an outing, laughing at his comic imitations and listening to his horn, the molimo. Basing her work on actual events, Cutler (My Wartime Summers) not only conveys the bustle and thrill of the Fair but also exposes the prejudices masquerading as science. For example, when a pompous anthropologist informs a packed house that larger skull size indicates greater intelligence, he compares Ota's head measurements to those of a man Harry knows as a blockhead and a thief. The outrageous practice of putting people of other races on exhibit and the unearthing of outdated theses produce their greatest impact here when shown through the characters' experience and observations; however, they are sometimes filtered through contrived and didactic dialogue. Historic figures pepper the novel, and one, the pioneering woman photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Beals, emerges as a central character. Readers will enjoy witnessing Harry gain respect for another culture as he learns to question his own. But though the story is often amusing and sensitively told, the relationship between Harry and Ota is not built strongly enough to serve its pivotal function. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Cutler goes back to 1904 and the St. Louis World's Fair. She creates a spectacle that is alive with the excitement of new inventions and the novelty of exotic animals and amusement-park rides, bustling with pleasure-seekers gaily dressed in the styles of the time, and sprinkled with famous personages such as Thomas Edison. Also on exhibit, however, are people. Local African Americans pose as pre-Civil War plantation slaves, the once-mighty Geronimo is reduced to selling pictures of himself for 10 cents, and five Pygmy warriors are kept on view in an open-air compound. Into the midst of all this comes 12-year-old Harry to spend six weeks with his aunt and uncle and anthropologist cousin Frederick. The boy becomes friendly with the Pygmy Ota Benga, who plays the molimo, a large wind instrument. Frederick's boss, Chief Macdougal, makes a mockery of the warriors, assuming that their small stature is proof positive of their inferior intellectual, emotional, and moral development. Indeed, he sets out to make a public spectacle of them. Harry also becomes a friend and helper to Jessie Beals, the first woman news photographer. Cutler's narrative raises the obvious question: who are the truly uncivilized people here? Unfortunately, not all of the characters are drawn with depth and some of the situations stretch credibility. Still, the story has many thought-provoking and unusual aspects. An afterword explains what happened to the real Ota Benga after the fair.
Peggy Morgan, The Library Network, Southgate, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (October 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374371415
• ISBN-13: 978-0374371418
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,755,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Historical Novel that Encourages Critical Thinking, March 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Song of the Molimo (Hardcover)

I read this book to my two sons. Parts of it were too sophisticated for my six year old, but my ten year old really enjoyed it. He also read it at school. I appreciate the way Ms Cutler dealt with racism within the time frame of the story. She clearly conveyed the unquestioning attitudes of that time, and yet let Harry gradually realize what he was seeing didn't fit the 'facts' as they were presented by others. This was a good history lesson for my children. They not only learned alot about the St. Louis World's Fair, but also about common attitudes during that time, and the value of thinking for oneself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story for kids and adults!, August 17, 2003

By 

Director Bob (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Song of the Molimo (Hardcover)

I'm not a writer. But, clearly, Jane Cutler is. So, please excuse this quick, poorly written review.

I purchased this book because I am directing a documentary about the 1904 World's Fair and thought the book might be interesting. My son asked if I would read it to him one night - like we had done with other books when he was much younger. He absolutely loved it. When I had completed the first few pages, he said "this is a pretty good book". Every night he HAD to have me read more...To the point of him wanting to go to bed early (that NEVER happens) so that I could read "Molimo" to him. When his favorite movie, Harry Potter, came out on DVD, I was amazed to see him stop watching mid-movie because it was time to read "Molimo"! A few weeks later when I finished reading the last line and said "the end", the first words out of his mouth were "can we read it again?". We are currently on our third read through.

If THAT's not a glowing recommendation, I don't know what is!