Summary
From Jewell Parker Rhodes, the author of Towers Falling and Ninth Ward (a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a Today show Al's Book Club for Kids pick) comes a tale of a strong, spirited young girl who rises beyond her circumstances and inspires others to work toward a brighter future.
Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road sugar plantation along the banks of the Mississippi. Slavery is over, but laboring in the fields all day doesn't make her feel very free. Thankfully, Sugar has a knack for finding her own fun, especially when she joins forces with forbidden friend Billy, the white plantation owner's son.
Sugar has always yearned to learn more about the world, and she sees her chance when Chinese workers are brought in to help harvest the cane. The older River Road folks feel threatened, but Sugar is fascinated. As she befriends young Beau and elder Master Liu, they introduce her to the traditions of their culture, and she, in turn, shares the ways of plantation life. Sugar soon realizes that she must be the one to bridge the cultural gap and bring the community together. Here is a story of unlikely friendships and how they can change our lives forever.
Author Notes
Jewell Parker Rhodes is an award-winning author. Her books include Voodoo Dreams, Magic City, Douglass' Women, Season, Moon, Hurricane, and the children's book, Ninth Ward. She is also the author of the writing guides Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors and The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Nonfiction.
Her work has been published in Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey, and the United Kingdom and reproduced in audio and for NPR's "Selected Shorts." Rhodes honors include: the American Book Award, the National Endowment of the Arts Award in Fiction, the Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Literary Excellence, the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for Outstanding Writing, and two Arizona Book Awards.
Rhodes is the Virginia G. Piper Chair in Creative Writing and Artistic Director of Piper Global Engagement at Arizona State University.
(Bowker Author Biography)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Through the voice of 10-year-old Sugar, an emancipated slave in post-Civil War Louisiana, Rhodes's novel (Little, Brown, 2013) introduces a dark and little-known period of American history. Like the other freed slaves who stayed on River Road Plantation after the War, Sugar's life is tied to the sugar cane crop. It's a hard life of planting and harvesting for little pay, and she has learned to hate the crop for which she is named. When Mr. Wills, the plantation owner, hires Chinese workers to compensate for the slaves who have gone north, the older workers feel threatened. Sugar is a curious, gutsy young girl with a bit of mischief in her. She reaches out to the "Chinamen" and draws both communities together. Br'er Rabbit and Chinese dragon tales are woven throughout the book. In the appendix, Rhodes explains the origins of these tales and how she learned about the Chinese workers and their role in Reconstruction. The talented Bahni Turpin magically brings all of the characters to life with perfect inflection and expression, creating the illusion of a full cast of performers. Each voice exudes the character's personality, from sassy Sugar to the angry, bigoted overseer to young Billy Wills, who breaks the rules to become Sugar's playmate and champion. This is a strong and memorable tale, full of excitement and sorrow, humor and grit, illustrating a complex period of American political and economic history that is often overlooked.-MaryAnn Karre, West Middle School, Binghamton, NY (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In 1870 Louisiana, five years after the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery, Sugar is still bound to the crop whose name she shares: "I'm ten now. I'm not a slave anymore. I'm free. Except from sugar." Sugar and her mother had been waiting for the return of her father, who was sold shortly after Sugar was born; when Sugar's mother died, her daughter was left with nowhere to go. Sugar's caring guardians and her occasional adventures in the woods are bright spots in her life, but she feels left behind as friends head north. When "Chinamen" are hired to work on the plantation, Sugar's community feels threatened; however, Sugar's intuition, curiosity, and spirit move her to befriend the perceived enemy and bring everyone together. Rhodes (Ninth Ward) paints a realistic portrait of the hard realities of Sugar's life, while also incorporating Br'er Rabbit stories and Chinese folktales. Sugar's clipped narration is personable and engaging, strongly evoking the novel's historical setting and myriad racial tensions, making them accessible and meaningful to beginning readers. Ages 8-12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Sugar, a ten-year-old African American girl in Reconstruction Louisiana, hates everything about sugar: "Sugar bites a hundred times, breaking skin and making you bleed...Sugar calls -- all kinds of bugs, crawling, inching, flying...I hate, hate, hate sugar." The work on a sugarcane plantation is brutal, and Sugar's mother died two years ago. The community of cane workers, all former slaves, is equal parts loving and disapproving of Sugar's high spirits, but she's increasingly lonely as the other families move away for a better life in the North. When the plantation owner's son, Billy, starts making friendly overtures, Sugar is ready to accept, though they both know they aren't supposed to play together. Her outgoing nature helps her reach out to the new group of Chinese sugarcane workers, and her friendship with the youngest of them enlarges her view of the world and its possibilities. Rhodes vividly depicts Sugar's experiences and sensations, from the razor-sharp leaves of the cane field to the sights and smells of the Mississippi River, using short, direct, and evocative sentences. The novel's plot may be a little predictable, but with her endearing feistiness, realistically shifting moods, and capacity for friendship, Sugar is an engaging and memorable character. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Rhodes' book elegantly chronicles the hope of one 10-year-old girl seeking a bigger world in postCivil War America. When Chinese laborers arrive, Sugar finally believes in a world beyond River Road Plantation. In 1870, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, many former slaves remain on their plantations--only now working for a bleak slave wage. Sugar was born into slavery on a sugar plantation and still lives there, feeling constricted and anything but free. To the complicated relationship she enjoys with the plantation owner's son, Billy, is added another, with newly arrived "Chinamen" Bo/Beau and Master Liu. Most Americans are aware of the brutality of slavery, but few stop to consider that the abolition of slavery created a new turmoil for former slaves. How would they make a living? Rhodes exposes the reality of postCivil War economics, when freed slaves vacated plantations, leaving former slave masters with a need for labor. In doing so, she illuminates a little-known aspect of the Reconstruction Era, when Chinese immigrants were encouraged to come to America and work alongside ex-slaves. Her prose shines, reading with a spare lyricism that flows naturally. All Sugar's hurt, longing, pain and triumph shine through. A magical story of hope from Coretta Scott King Honor winner Rhodes. (Historical fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ten-year-old Sugar, named after the cane she sharecrops with other freed people, hates her name. It makes her think of her father being sold off into slavery, her mother who died from the hard work in the fields, and her own life of toil. She would rather be playing, but she is the last little one around after all the other young people left the plantation to live in the North. However, her own way of life is threatened once she learns through her verboten friendship with the plantation owner's son that his father plans to bring in labor from China. Rhodes creates a unique cultural snapshot of Reconstruction Era Louisiana by introducing Chinese immigrants to the mix. Drawing inspiration from Lucy M. Cohen's Chinese in the Post-Civil War South (1984), Rhodes creates a cross-cultural exchange that includes trickster tales, food appreciation, and good old-fashioned friendship. Sugar is an appealing, adventurous heroine full of curiosity and joy, an element sorely needed in light of the heavy subject.--Jones, Courtney Copyright 2010 Booklist
