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  • Light in the Darkness: A Story about How Slaves Learned in Secret
  • Deborah Stevenson
Cline-Ransome, Lesa . Light in the Darkness: A Story about How Slaves Learned in Secret; illus. by James E. Ransome. Jump at the Sun/Disney, 2013. [40p]. ISBN 978-1-4231-3495-4 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R 7-10 yrs.

It's deep night when Rosa and her mother slip out under the nose of the plantation patrollers and defy the law to learn reading and writing from Morris, a slave from a nearby plantation. It's not just the three of them—there's a collection of desperate scholars, young and old, and their school is a deep pit hollowed into the ground and disguised with branches. When patrollers catch two of Morris' students as they try to slip back to the plantation unnoticed, Rosa and her mother don't dare attend the sessions any more, but eventually a defiant and determined Rosa convinces her mother to brave danger for the freeing power of learning. The atmospheric text is filled with hushed whispers, frozen silences, and secret nighttime journeys, and it doesn't shy away from the tremendous risk involved in the enterprise, mentioning right up front the savage whipping that's been the punishment for learning in the past. In fact, that threat just emphasizes the notion that learning is an important, empowering, and even transgressive act ("In this school, they are taking in learning like it's their last breath"), and while the book wisely avoids linking that belief to contemporary study, it's certainly a notion that youngsters may find worth considering. Ransome's watercolor spreads make excellent use of composition and perspective to maximize the drama and the secrecy, helping to keep scenes involving even amid the gloom of night. An author's note briefly describes the historic "pit schools"; a trio of youth-friendly titles is offered for further reading. [End Page 238]

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