Black Juice

Lanagan, Margo. 2004. Black juice. New York: Eos. ISBN 9780060743925

Plot Summary

A collection of ten short stories set in worlds both alien and disturbingly familiar. In Singing My Sister Down, a young boy watches his sister slowly sink into the tar pit as their family gathers to keep her company and say goodbye. In My Lord’s Man a faithful manservant struggles to understand his Lord’s affection for a wild and disobedient woman. A pair of assassins target clowns with disastrous consequences in Red Nose Day. Sweet Pippit is the tale of a herd of elephants that set out to rescue their mahout. House of the Many is the story of a young man who runs away to see the world, then returns to find everything has fallen apart without him. Wooden Bride tells of a young woman’s determination to become a Bride, no matter what. A boy sets out to find an angel to save his grandmother, and gains his freedom instead in Earthly Uses. Braving exposure to a toxic wasteland, a young woman pays her respects at the funeral for her beloved grandmother in Perpetual Light. An outcast girl warns the people in town that the Yowlinin are coming, but is unable to convince them to run and hide before it is too late. In Rite of Spring a young man sets out to turn the season from winter to spring after his brother, the chosen one, falls ill.

Critical Analysis

“These ten new tales from Down Under take readers to worlds like, yet tantalizingly unlike, their own.” (Kirkus Reviews).

Margo Lanagan’s stories offer subtle examinations of themes of growing up, learning to understand your place in the world, determination, and dealing with grief. “Lanagan uses beautiful, lyrical language to tell peculiar, disturbing tales… The selections are subtle and scary, and are remarkably different from most short stories aimed at teens. This book will satisfy readers hungry for intelligent, literary fantasies that effectively twist facets of our everyday world into something alien.” (School Library Journal) The settings may be fantastic, but the first person narratives allow the reader to identify with the internal struggles and growth of the characters, even those that are non-human.

Review Citations

Couri, Sarah, Trevelyn E. Jones, Luann Toth, Marlene Charnizon, Daryl Grabarek, and Dale Raben. 2005. "Black Juice." School Library Journal 51, no. 3: 213.

2005. "BLACK JUICE." Kirkus Reviews 73, no. 3: 178.

Copper Sun

Draper, Sharon. 2006. Copper sun. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689821813

Plot Summary

15 year-old Amari and the people of her small African village welcome the white strangers who come to the village, unaware of the danger they pose. Amari runs when the white strangers suddenly start killing all of the elders and children, but she is captured along with all of the young people of the village. This is the beginning of her harrowing journey to America. Along the way she is repeatedly sold and raped, her only comfort being the friendship and wisdom of an experienced slave who tries to convince Amari that she has a destiny awaiting her.

When she arrives in America, Amari is bought as a birthday present for the cruel son of a cruel master. Amari is to be “civilized” by Polly, an indentured servant whose situation in life is only marginally better than Amari’s. Amari and Polly develop a tentative friendship that deepens when they decide to run away after witnessing their master murder a slave and a newborn child. They journey south to Spanish owned lands, avoiding the potential trap of traveling north along roads filled with people looking to recapture runaway slaves. In Fort Mose Amari finds her hard-won freedom, and her destiny.

Critical Analysis

Told in alternating chapters from the viewpoints of Amari and Polly, this story reveals the unimaginable horrors of the slave trade and the racism that allowed it to flourish. Amari is brought to the brink of despair time and time again, but each time she is brought back by the small kindnesses and love of the other slaves, Polly, and a few other characters who are powerless to change a system that they know to be deplorable. Amari finds the strength to find freedom, and to begin to heal.

Polly provides insight into the ingrained racism of the white people, it is only through witnessing what Amari is going through, and the eventual realization that her status may not protect her from a similar fate, that Polly begins to question her racial superiority. “Polly's cynicism and realistic outlook on life provides a welcome contrast to the lost innocence of Amari, whose voice often disappears beneath the misery of her circumstances” (Kirkus Reviews).

The sheer magnitude of what Amari witnesses and endures seems incredible. “Every bad thing that befell an African slave either happens to or is witnessed by Amari (e.g., Africans eaten by sharks, children used as live alligator bait, an infant shot dead out of spite). Rape is constant.” (Publisher’s Weekly). Draper provides an extensive bibliography and lists of websites for readers to read more about slavery and discover these truths that many people would rather gloss over.

 

Review Citations

2006. "Copper Sun." Publishers Weekly 253, no. 2: 55.

2006. "COPPER SUN." Kirkus Reviews 74, no. 1: 39.

The Chocolate War

Cormier, Robert. 1974. The chocolate war. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0440944597

Plot Summary

Trinity High, a parochial boy’s prep school, is nominally led by Brother Leon but the real power in the school resides in The Vigils, a gang that gives “assignments” to students that are designed to humiliate and torment. The real power of The Vigils resides in Archie Costello, the Assigner who masterminds the torturous assignments. This school year, when the stakes in the annual chocolate sale have been doubled, freshman Jerry Renault’s assignment is to refuse to sell any chocolates for the first 10 days, incurring the wrath of Brother Leon. At the end of the assignment Jerry decides to continue refusing to sell chocolates, a decision that has catastrophic consequences as Archie plots to restore the order of power at Trinity High.

Critical Analysis

 

The Chocolate War offers insight to the fears and motives of both victims and victimizers. Cormier uses an omniscient point of view that focuses on the thoughts and reactions of individual characters to provide a multi-faceted look at power, corruption, and the fears that everyone tries to hide. Archie, the mastermind of the vicious assignments, is motivated by his fear of losing power, his fear of the “black box” that could turn the tables and make him a victim of his own schemes, and fear of Brother Leon. Jerry’s motivations stem from the fear of turning out to be a “square boy”, like his father. Cormier also explores the awakening of several students as they realize that the adults in the school are also motivated by fears, and are therefore vulnerable.

As stated in Kirkus Reviews, “No underworld gang closing in on a victim is more menacing than this teenage army led by a Leon-Archie alliance against one boy whose locker poster reads ‘Do I Dare Disturb the Universe.’". Readers will be waiting with held breath for the climax where Archie and Leon will surely be undone by the bravery and unwavering determination of Jerry to hold his ground, only that is not what happens. The violent end serves to bring home the truths and insights of the book by remaining unwaveringly true to the harsh realities of power, fear, and corruption. “Mature young readers will respect the uncompromising ending that dares disturb the upbeat universe of juvenile books.” (Kirkus)

Review Citation

1974. "THE CHOCOLATE WAR." Kirkus Reviews April 1, 1974.