Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

by Harriette Gillem Robinet

Book Overview

Winner of the 1999 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction A CBC Notable Children's Book in the Field of Social Studies Two recently freed, formerly enslaved brothers work to protect the new life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068982078X
• ISBN13: 9780689820786
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.7" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Greatest Book Ever!!!

Forty Acres And Maybe A Mule is such a moving story. It will move you to make you dreams come true. It would be excellent for a bed time story!!! It makes you feel like you are the person playing in the book!!!!!!!During slavery time period slaves lived hard lives.This book shows how to learn and rise with knowlege. Buy It Today!!!!!!!!!!!! Jose DME

Excellent story of determination in Reconstruction South

I'm surprised to see very few reviews posted here for this excellent award-winning work of historical fiction for middle readers. This Scott O'Dell Award winner about African-American life in the South is in the same tradition as the renowned "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" books by Mildred Taylor.Here we get on an emotional roller-coaster ride as we follow the lives of three young ex-slaves during the early days of Reconstruction in 1865. Gideon returns from following General Sherman to his former plantation to retrieve his younger crippled brother, Pascal, and his orphaned friend Nelly. In their quest to find the "forty acres and maybe a mule" in Georgia, that had been promised by General Sherman, they befriend a grandfatherly carpenter, and his long-lost granddaughter, to create a new family.The harsh realities of unjust treatment by white nightriders, who are trying to force emancipated slaves to return to their plantations, are tempered by various friendly white people who help them find their forty acres, open a school for the children, register them to vote, who become neighbors, etc.This is a story of determination, hard work, rebuilding lives and families, of hope, peace, and love, in the face of discrimination and cruelty. A seldom recognized historical fact is woven into this well-researched tale: the party of Lincoln, the Republican Party, was the original party of Civil Rights. The impact of the death of Lincoln on these emancipated slaves that were given land is dramatically portrayed here. And the quick backpedaling of his successor, Andrew Johnson, becomes a painful reality for nearly 39,000 black landowners just months after he takes office.This book deserves a wider reading by upper elementary through middle school students and their teachers, especially when discussing the facts surrounding the impact of the Civil War and early Reconstruction efforts in the South.

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

The events in this book kept me on the edge of mt seat. My emotions were in constant turmoil. At times I found myself full of joy and hope for the City family. The very next moment, I was experiencing fear and sorrow, not knowing whether the family could survive the constant dangers presented by the nightriders. A major theme throughout this book is man against society. Robinet allows the reader to enter the world of ex-slaves during the reconstruction period. The reader is able to experience the fears and the joys of the characters. The true historical events presented help the reader to understand the brutality of slavery. Readers can also see that this brutality did not end when President Lincoln freed the slaves. Readers can also see how the characters changed during the telling of this story. Pascal learns that he is a worthwhile person even though he has a physical disability. Gideon learns that he is a man whether or not he owns land. He and the others learn that freedom is about having dignity. The land can be taken, but freedom can't be taken away from you.

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

The events in this book kept me on the edge of my seat. My emotions were in constant turmoil. At times I found myself full of joy and hope for the City family. The very next moment, I was experiencing fear and sorrow, not knowing whether the family could survive the constant dangers presented by the nightriders. A major theme throughout this book is man against society. Robinet allows the reader to enter the world of ex-slaves during the reconstruction period. The reader is able to experience the fears and the joys of the characters. The true historical events presented help the reader to understand the brutality of slavery. Readers can also see that this brutality did not end when President Lincoln freed the slaves. Readers can also see how the characters changes during the telling of this story. Pascal learns that he is a worthwhile person even though he has a physical disability. Gideon learns that he is a man whether or not he owns land. He and the other ex-slaves learn that freedom is about having dignity. The land can be taken, but freedom can't be taken away from you.

A story set during Reconstruction.

Pasacal, a slave boy who's about twelve years old, was born with a withered hand and leg, so he never did heavy work. Now that the Civil War is over, Pascal and his older brother, Gideon, and nine year old Nelly, a slave from their plantation, decide to claim the forty acres and a mule being offered to former slaves. They don't get the mule, but they do get the forty acres, and Pascal is determined to help out in building their new home. Can Pascal, his brother, and little Nelly, who's like a sister to him, build a life outside slavery? Read this great book to find out!