The Middle Passage: White Ships Black Cargo

Rating:
Summary: FEELINGS COME ALIVE
Review: Given this is "Black" history month, Mr. Feelings' book should be mandatory for all who reside in this country, race, creed, ethnicity not withstanding. How a people can be so totally brutilized in abounding silencce and suffer for hunderdes of years; both as the victim and perpertrator needs some serious investigation. Book:"Lets We Forget" by Velma Maia Thomas, brings 3D and text to Tom Feelings work. You can feel the pain, hear the cries, smell the stench! I say, BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! To Mr. Feelings it is a pity that his work will only reach a small percent of the American public. The truth continues in avodiance! A passage from an infamous speech delivered in 1712 on the banks of the St. James river, reverbirates the above mentioned works; "I will teach you a simple method to control your slaves. Your wives and children can learn this method and I grauntee it works. The slaves themselves will perpetuate this method for hundreds or maybe thousands of years to come!" GOD, will we ever get out of the bottom of that boat?? From the Heart of a Serious Sistah YAA ASANTEWAA NZINGA

Rating:
Summary: The Power is Speechless
Review: This book brings out soo many emotions. Words need not be said..... just look..... A story that is told so very vividly... the pictures soo strong... the pain soo clear. I didn't realize it was a children's book, I got it because of the power in the pictures.

Rating:
Summary: The Power is Speechless
Review: This book brings out soo many emotions. Words need not be said..... just look..... A story that is told so very vividly... the pictures soo strong... the pain soo clear. I didn't realize it was a children's book, I got it because of the power in the pictures.

Rating:
Summary: The pictures tell more than the classroom
Review: This book... I didn't know it was a childs book. I bought it for me. I saw the beautiful black and white pictures... and the story they were telling and knew I needed this book. A very strong story told with few words. Get the book.

Rating:
Summary: Too Scary for Kids
Review: This is a book that is too dark and scary for children. The book contains black and white illustrations of violent and frightening scenes. One implies slave rape. Another shows rats eating the corpses of dead Africans. One quote from the introduction states, "many [Africans]... chose suicide--mainly by jumping into the shark-infested ocean," As someone who has a Masters degree in early American history, I think discussing this subject is vital to the American dialogue. However, the style of this book is not fit for a child. I would rank this book without a star if Amazon's rating system would allow me to do so.

Rating:
Summary: Too Scary for Kids
Review: This is a book that is too dark and scary for children. The book contains black and white illustrations of violent and frightening scenes. One implies slave rape. Another shows rats eating the corpses of dead Africans. One quote from the introduction states, "many [Africans]... chose suicide--mainly by jumping into the shark-infested ocean," As someone who has a Masters degree in early American history, I think discussing this subject is vital to the American dialogue. However, the style of this book is not fit for a child. I would rank this book without a star if Amazon's rating system would allow me to do so.

Rating:
Summary: Artistically Truthful
Review: While teaching the 6 traits of writing to middle school students, I was given The Middle Passage to use as an example of a book with strong voice. The book completely awed me with its dark, powerful images. Page after page, the illustrations evoke incredibly strong emotional reactions in the reader despite the absence of words. While the story is certainly worth sharing and keeping alive, the black and white drawings are graphic enough that I decided to save the book for a time when I could provide students with more background information to prepare them for the harsh realities depicted. This is a book that I will keep in my collection because of its artistic power, historical accuracy, and vivid impact.