From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
According to the author's brief and pithy introduction, stories of Moses abound in Africa, Asia, and the Near East, "but not because of his beard nor because he brought the laws down from Sinai...What other man has ever seen with his eyes even the back part of God's glory?...That calls for power..." Here is the story of Moses told from the ground up, the story of law told by the bearers - of children, of law, of labor - not the makers, the decreers. It starts with the women hiding to give birth, the sounds of their labor stifled in terror of the greater agony of having their infant sons taken away and drowned. How does life continue under such a law, what do people do to survive? To grow? Enter Moses, an illegal boy born in gagged silence and floated away on the river inside a reed basket with his parent's sobbing hope his only strength. Rescued and raised by the Pharaoh's daughter, Moses grows up to become the savior of his people. As Moses learns, being savior is not an easy or trouble-free life, and it's not just the Pharaoh causing the problems. In prose full of rhythmic strength and humor, Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of Moses - an ancient human heritage story deeply enmeshed in the psyches and souls of many races and cultures - from the inside out, with all the guts and raggedy edges plainly visible.
-- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.
The New Yorker
"The real thing, warm, humorous, poetic."
See all Editorial Reviews