African Town
African Town by Charles Waters, published by Penguin Young Readers Group on January 24, 2023, is a reprint edition comprising 464 pages. This novel-in-verse chronicles the harrowing journey of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860. It follows the story of 110 men, women, and children from Benin and Nigeria who were captured and transported aboard the ship Clotilda to Mobile, Alabama, navigating the brutal realities of the Middle Passage and their subsequent attempts to preserve their culture while adapting to life on plantations.
Readers will find a rich tapestry of voices in this historical narrative, including perspectives from the ship that carried them and the founder of the community they established, known as African Town. The book delves into themes of resilience and cultural identity during the Civil War period, offering insights into the experiences of African Americans during a pivotal moment in history. Through its distinct voices, African Town presents a powerful exploration of survival and community amidst adversity.
Official synopsis Publisher
Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning novel-in-verse.
In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria were captured and brought to Mobile, Alabama aboard a ship called Clotilda. Their journey includes the savage Middle Passage and being hidden in the swamplands along the Alabama River before being secretly parceled out to various plantations, where they made desperate attempts to maintain both their culture and also fit into the place of captivity to which they’d been delivered. At the end of the Civil War, the survivors created a community for themselves they called African Town, which still exists to this day. Told in 14 distinct voices, including that of the ship that brought them to the American shores and the founder of African Town, this powerfully affecting historical novel-in-verse recreates a pivotal moment in US and world history, the impacts of which we still feel today.
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