The Walls of Cartagena

by Julia Durango

Book Overview

Calepino was blessed with good fortune. After his mother died giving birth to him on a slave ship, he was taken in by a wealthy woman who gave him every advantage. Then on his thirteenth birthday, Father Pedro, a devout priest, asks Calepino to assist him with the slaves coming into Cartagena. Soon he's fighting seasickness, living in squalor, and cursing every minute. That all begins to change when he meets Mara and Tomi, a mother and son who remind...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416941029
• ISBN13: 9781416941026
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Rose Among Thorns

Good historical fiction can come in a small package. Ms. Durango has brought to life several people from the history of the Columbian seaport of Cartagena. Against a distressing backdrop of the slave trade and a leper colony, the characters bring to life a story that is a true rose among thorns. Young Calepino, an orphan born on a slave ship, at first resists leaving a life of relative ease in the household of a local noblewoman, not eager work with a saintly local priest helping newly arriving human cargo, and later not wanting to help the outcast lepers. By connecting closely with other people whose problems far exceed his own, Calepino grows immeasurably during the span of one year, and impressively mature by his fourteenth birthday. He, the unusual local doctor, the priest, and others demonstrate that even in a society that devalues life and crushes the human spirit, individual initiative can help save and transform lives one at a time. I appreciate Simon & Schuster teaming with the author to provide books of this kind to young readers. They are not just enjoyable to read and attractive to hold, they teach important historical and moral lessons that and universal and timeless. The author's style is brisk but sensitive, the illustrations and a nice enhancement, and the images are vivid. The book is perfect for young readers from age nine through early teen.

A Peek Over the Walls

Such an unusual setting and set of characters! An early Spanish colonial slave port, an orphan slave boy, a dedicated loving priest, a Jewish doctor at odds with the Inquisitor, a wily pirate-leper, and a slave family desperate for escape. Through challenges he sought to avoid, the young orphan progresses from a spoiled and lazy child to a brave and caring young man. The reader learns that one person can make a big difference. This little volume is beautifully crafted and bound, with fine illustrations quality paper, obviously intended for an honored long-term position on a young person's bookshelf. Giving young readers exposure to the reality of the slave trade and squalor of a leper colony, along with the sacrificial ministry of the priest and doctor and their helpers, can only help them count their own blessings and consider how they can make their world a better place. Ms. Durango's write very well, bringing the reader into the scene so completely you can almost smell the flowers, and also the hold of the slave ships. I also appreciate the way she wove quotations from Don Quixote into the conversations. Perhaps she plans to offer us additional novels in the future?

Excellent Book On Life In The West Indies In The Early Seventeenth Century

The story covers Calepino's life during his fourteenth year. Up to this point, he has been educated and sheltered by his wealthy Spanish benefactor. On the occasion of his thirteenth birthday, Father Pedro wishes Calepino to live at the Jesuit school and assist him with translations on the incoming slave ships. Calepino enjoys his life and wants nothing to do with Father Pedro's plan. He reluctantly agrees to go to the Jesuit school. The horror and injustice of the slavery system are covered in this book in a sort of soft way. This is a book for "Young Readers", and I think the subject matter is handled exceptionally well. The Spanish Inquisition and leprosy are also covered very well. A year in the life of a young man, and how he comes to terms with his world, and how he grows and matures in that year, are the main thrust of the book. Calepino does very well in the end, with a few bumps along the way. Most of the characters in this book are based on real people. Father Pedro was sainted by the Catholic Church, and is the patron saint of slaves. Calepino was a real person, although not much is known about him. The book is fiction, the characters are not, and the blending of the two into "The Walls of Cartegena" has been masterfully done.

Outstanding characterisation and imagery

Normally, books at 'young adult' level are far from my speciality - yet I was able to become engrossed in this one, and to read it in a single sitting. The author has an outstanding gift for vivid use of language, depiction of various forms of human relationships, and for capturing a young man's perspective in a realistic depiction of history. One can actually picture the situation for those in slave ships and the other situations in which our hero finds himself. There is a wide scope in the characterisation - each is very much an individual, not merely a 'type,' and the dialogue should make young readers feel as if they can well identify with the situations, despite the large gap of historical periods. Some of the characters are very engaging, and the dual perspective (Spain as conqueror, but also as evangelist, as is seen in the sympathetic priest) fleshes out the images of the time. I believe that this book will make an entire historical era and varied ways of life of the time come alive for young readers.

Fast-Paced, Well-Written Historical Fiction

Julia Durango did a great job with her research and an even better job writing realistic characters caught up in the slave trade of the first half of the 17th century. Her main character, Calepino, is a slave born aboard a slaver vessel in the harbor of the city of Cartagena. Taken in by his owner, Dona Isabel and educated beyond even a wealthy Spaniard's son, his gift for languages forces him to learn more about the conflicts between various groups living in the city. Over the course of one year, he develops into an honorable young man who improves the lives of those around him. I think this 152 page novel is well suited for grades 5 and 6 in terms of language and content.