This Strange New Feeling: Three Love Stories from Black History

by Julius Lester

Book Overview

Three powerful short stories about slavery and freedom set in the antebellum South. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803731728
• ISBN13: 9780803731721
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 193 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

This Strange New Feeling

ISBN 059041061x - I think the idea of touting this book as "love stories" does it a dis-service, because I don't think the young adult audience is going to be as interested in something they think is a love story; it is also a tad misleading, in my opinion because I think the stories are much more - and much less - than love stories. In the first story, Ras is tempted to freedom by a man named Jakes, a hired carpenter that he works with to build a shed. Jakes can't resist trying to excite Ras's interest by talking about things the slave could have, if he was free. Helped to run away by his Uncle Isaac and a white man by the name of Thomas McMahon, Ras heads for Calais, the town that Jakes had told him about, only to be caught - because Jakes turned him in! Returned home, Ras tells the other slaves how terrible it was in the North, to avert the whipping he'd otherwise get. Then he and Sally, the woman he loves, help others to flee, until the night they are almost caught and are forced to take their master's life to save their own. The story of Uncle Issac's children and the terrible choice his wife made to insure no child of hers would ever be a slave took this story out of the realm of mushy love story and into that of heartbreaking, haunting true story - and it sets the tone for the two to come. In the second story, young Maria falls for Forrest Yates, a free black man. When her mistress dies, her master sells her - to Forrest! Not free to marry, they live together as a couple until Forrest is killed in an accident and Maria is faced with a horrifying choice: lose her dignity or her freedom. This story rings the least true of the three. Maria's master stops his wife from beating her, treats all the slaves well, sees to it that she is sold to a man who loves her and, even though it's somewhat offensive, his subtle hint that she could take on the role of his mistress is told tactfully. All of this adds up to a man who is not particularly in favor of slavery and a relatively kind owner (which seems like an impossible thing, but you have to remember the times they lived in). His sudden, harsh and heartless about-face at the end of the story makes no sense whatsoever and has the feel of fabrication more than any other part of the book. The last story is that of William and Ellen Craft, who run away to Philadelphia, then Boston and eventually England, becoming celebrities along the way. Posing as an injured young man and his slave, the pair have several near misses before they find freedom. That freedom nearly comes to an end as two well-known slave hunters come to Boston to find them. When the President vows to send the military to enforce the newly passed Fugitive Slave Bill, the Crafts are helped to hide and, eventually, to run by Reverend Theodore Parker, Lewis Hayden and many others. Saving the best for last, Lester finally tells a story that will capture your imagination and have you wondering what next, worrying for the Crafts

Stories raise difficult questions that will challenge parents

"What does freedom feel like when it is something about which you've only been able to dream? How much are you willing to risk to be free? Are you willing to die?" These are the concepts that Julius Lester explores in This Strange New Feeling. In these three love stories from black history (all in the time of U.S. slavery), the author explores the resiliency of the human spirit and its desire to be free. For, as he says, we are not all so different. Though most of us have no comprehension what it means to be in physical bondage, most of us have something in our lives of which we would like to be free. These three stories are based on historical incidents, but read like fiction. Lester is known for fascinating stories. His folk tale style and vivid description will keep you turning pages. And adults, don't let the "young reader" description keep you from picking up this book. It is wonderful for us, too. For those parents who read middle readers to young children, or parents who have young advanced readers, you may want to screen this book first. I personally would hesitate to give it to younger, especially highly sensitive, children. The atrocities of slavery are not glossed over in any way. Though some of the concepts--like slave owners having children with slave women--will only be understood by more mature readers, a curious child will have a lot of questions that parents might not be ready to answer. Still, I don't hesitate to give it five stars. This is an excellent read. The materials with this book say it is for age 12 and up, but I think it is far more mature than what I consider right for as Middle Reader--so I would recommend for Young Adult.

My favorite book

This strange new feeling is my favorite book because I like it when you can read something and not only have fun but you still learn something from the passed.Every time I read this book I never wanted to stop reading.That's how good I think this book is.This book is about three stories in slavery,and how the slaves was in love, and how they got through slavery.

This Strange New Feeling

This is an excellent book about the joys and sorrows of slavery. The book has three wonderful stories in it which each story tells about the love of slaves for one another. If you love reading about the past, love, and slavery this is a great book you should read.