Search This Blog

Love reading challenges? Check out my other blog:

2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

My Progress:


24 / 30 books. 80% done!

20 Books of Summer 2023

My Progress:


17 / 20 books. 85% done!

2023 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (2)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (12)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (3)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (1)
- Illinois
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (3)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (12)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (1)
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (3)
- Virginia
- Washington (6)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (2)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (1)

International:

- Australia (3)
- Canada (7)
- Chile (1)
- England (21)
- France (2)
- Ireland (2)
-Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- South Korea (1)
- Sweden (1)
- The Netherlands (2)
-Vietnam (1)

My Progress:


45 / 51 states. 88% done!

2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 books. 100% done!

2023 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


48 / 50 books. 96% done!

Booklist Queen's 2023 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2023 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


46 / 52 books. 88% done!

2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


35 / 40 books. 88% done!

2023 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


29 / 40 books. 73% done!

2023 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


16 / 25 books. 64% done!

2023 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

Book Bingo Reading Challenge


20 / 25 books. 80% done!

2023 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


93 / 109 books. 85% done!

Children's Book Reading Challenge...For Adults!

Monday, February 02, 2009

Well Done, Moses, Well Done


Since February brings us Black History Month, I thought I'd kick it off with a book about one of the most well-known heroes in African American history - Harriet Tubman. Moses by Carole Boston Weatherford celebrates the brave slave woman's life and accomplishments with gentle, faith-affirming prose and bright, hopeful illustrations by Kadir Nelson (who just won the Coretta Scott King Award for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball). Although it was published several years ago, I just discovered this gem thanks to my pal Hallie at Disney Publishing.

The story is written in the form of a conversation between God and Tubman. An Author's Note at the back of the book says, "[Harriet Tubman] talked to God as to a friend and she heeded His commands." Her close relationship with her Maker is very clearly depicted in the book. Throughout the story, as Tubman escapes bondage, hides from slave masters and courageously leads her people to safety, she seeks guidance from the Lord and follows His admonitions. Although hers is a story of bravery, love and loyalty, what most impresses me is her profound faith in God.

The text also hints that God foreordained Harriet Tubman to become a hero among her people. I could be inferring too much, but lines like "Harriet, your father/taught you to read the stars,/predict the weather,/gather wild berries,/and make cures from roots./Use his lessons to be free" seem to say she received the exact sort of schooling she would later use to save herself and so many others. I love this idea, because I, too, believe that God specially grooms the men and women He needs to lead His people.

Nelson's illustrations bring the story to life with strong colors and poignant images. His drawings of Tubman clearly reflect the fear, determination and hope she must have felt. One picture, which shows Tubman shushing her followers, bothered me because in it, she looks so unkind. Then I read this in the Author's Note, and realized how apt the depiction really is: "She used medicine to hush crying babies and threatened to shoot runaways who begged to turn back." I guess you don't make repeated successful forays into enemy territory without becoming a tough, commanding leader.

Weatherford's text combined with Nelson's illustrations make Moses a powerful, inspiring book. A Coretta Scott King Award winner (2007), it speaks of faith, bravery and Tubman's passionate fight for freedom. After following her journey, it's plain to see how she became known as "the Moses of her people" and why, at the end of the book, God says, "Well done, Moses, well done." To Weatherford and Nelson, I say the same - Well done.

Grade: A

(Book images from Barnes & Noble)

1 comment:

  1. This book sounds beautiful. I love how you talked about God grooming men and women to fulfill certain missions in life. I believe that too. Great review!

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Solito by Javier Zamora

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
My Calamity Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive