pickThirteen-year-old Sophie dreads spending the summer of 1960 with her grandmother and aunt on an old plantation outside of New Orleans, but when she meets a strange creature in the family maze, she's transported back 100 years, mistook for a slave and learns all sorts of life lessons.
This one was slow to get started but once it did, it was very good. I'd say an excellent introduction to life on a plantation for middle grade readers.
bailedBailed at the 30% mark - the time travel back to the days of slavery part of the story, which was going to take up the rest of the novel, rubbed me the wrong way. I felt it was sugar-coated and ineptly done. This year I've read two stunning novels about slavery: Octavia Butler's Kindred, and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing. I have no desire to suffer through a bad one.
What I'm perhaps enjoying most about this young adult novel are the southern expressions and slang. I'm not familiar with the slang use of "create" here, but I assume it means something akin to freaking out or expressing disapproval. Can anyone enlighten me?
Oh, so you mean my mother wasn't the only one to use this expression? :-)
The Freedom Maze | 
