The Old African by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.

A.Bibliographic Data:
Lester, Julius. Illus. Jerry Pinkney. 2005. The Old African. Penguin Group Inc.: New York, New York. ISBN 0-8037-2564-7.

B. Plot Summary:
The Old African is a story of slaves that are at the hands of a cruel plantation owner called Master Riley. The story opens with a young slave boy with his arms tied around his wrists being whipped by Riley because he ran away as the other slaves are forced to watch. The Old African is introduced as he uses his strong magical powers to ease the pain of the young slave boy as each lash tears at his back, and the pain of the other slaves whose heart aches for the young boy. The Old African defies Riley when he goes to the boy's aid after Riley instructed all the slaves not to do so. This infuriates Riley and he is about to attack the Old African once again uses his powers to prevent him from doing so. After this incident the Old African knows that Riley's next step will be to kill him. The story then flashes back in time to the Old Africans memories of when he was captured and enslaved. The Old African, his wife Ola, and the others from his tribe are captured, marched three days through forest until they reached the ocean. The loud waves of the oceon, the magnificent view, the strange house sitting on the water, the small boats leaving the strange house and the “Muene Puto”, Lord of the Dead which chained them and took them to the strange house petrified the people. There they became slaves and suffered subhuman standards that they would never forget. The Old African lost his wife Ola when she jumped off he ship and his mentor Jaja when he refused to eat. The story then flashes back to the present and the Old African finds out that when the young slave boy ran away he came across a large body of water. The Old African uses his magical powers to turn into a bird and travel to verify for himself if the water was really as the young slave boy claimed and he saw it. He returned to his human form and used his magical powers once more to create dark clouds in the form of slave ships, and thunder that set fire to John Riley's house. The Old African then led all of the slaves to the ocean shore, protecting them all the way. When they arrived he leads them into the water and they walked across the oceon floor to their homeland. Along the way the skeletons of the people that died at sea joined them and were back to life once they reached the shore of their homeland. The Old African was reunited with his wife Ola and Jaja who were resurrected.

C. Critical Analysis:
Julius Lester built the character of the Old African as strong, magnificient, powerful, intelligent being that longed for freedom, and his homeland. The Old African was the steadfast faith that the people needed to escape slavery. In the section of the book titled: A Note From the Author, Julius Lester states, “...a place in Georgia, called Ybo Landing where, it was believed a group of Ybo slaves has walked into the water saying they were going to walk back to Africa”. I understand where a story like this can cause you to question what those people must have been feeling when they walked into the oceon water. Julius Lester answers many of those questions through this story. It is the power of belief that gives courage. Jerry Pinkney does a wonderful job illustrating the magnitude of pain, suffering, and cruelty, that encompass this story.

D. Review Excerpt:
From Horn Book Magazine:
“Where the taut mystery of Virgina Hamilton's “The People Could Fly” derives its power from its mythic dimension, The Old African's strength lies in its specific, unblinking detail and Lester's signature informality of style. Pinkney's illustrations are superb: muted tones of worn fabric; impressionistic shadows among masses of heroic, striving bodies; resolute dramatic focus; harrowing grief; steadfast courage; quiet jubilation. Not since Tom Feeling's Middle Passage has there been such an eloquent visual expression of the heroism of the suffering Africans who were ensnared onto those vicious ships. Author's and artist's notes. J.R.L.”


E. Connections
Another excellent book to read along with this one would be: In the Time of theDrums / by Kim L. Siegelson ; illustrated by Brian Pinkney. ISBN 0-7868-0436 (trade) ISBN 0-7868-2386-0 (lib. bdg.). This book also focus on the legend of the water taking the Ibo people back to their homeland.