Nightjohn
Mass Market
Random House Children's Books · Paperback · January 1, 1995
"To know things, for us to know things, is bad for them.
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- Who it’s for
- A stark historical story makes the desire to learn feel both intimate and dangerous.
- Themes
- Slavery and freedom, Literacy as resistance, The 1850s
- Genres
- Civil War Era YA, African American YA, Prejudice & Racism for Teens
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Start with this bookAbout this book
"To know things, for us to know things, is bad for them. We get to wanting and when we get to wanting it's bad for them. They thinks we want what they got . . . . That's why they don't want us reading." --Nightjohn "I didn't know what letters was, not what they meant, but I thought it might be something I wanted to know.
Continue reading
To learn." -- Sarny Sarny, a female slave at the Waller plantation, first sees Nightjohn when he is brought there with a rope around his neck, his body covered in scars. He had escaped north to freedom, but he came back--came back to teach reading. Knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment Nightjohn still retumed to slavery to teach others how to read. And twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to take the risk to learn. Set in the 1850s, Gary Paulsen's groundbreaking new novel is unlike anything else the award-winning author has written. It is a meticulously researched, historically accurate, and artistically crafted portrayal of a grim time in our nation's past, brought to light through the personal history of two unforgettable characters.
Words at Risk
A stark historical story makes the desire to learn feel both intimate and dangerous.
Come here for
- A close focus on reading as a perilous act
- A personal view of slavery’s grim history
Expect
- A serious, unsparing tone
- Tension shaped by the risk of learning
Where it sits
| Prejudice & Racism for Teens | 58% |
|---|---|
| African American YA | 52% |
| Civil War Era YA | 51% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 19th-Century US YA
- African American YA
- Prejudice & Racism for Teens
- Authors
- Gary Paulsen
- Publisher
- Random House Children's Books
- Published
- January 1, 1995
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- Slavery and freedom · Literacy as resistance · The 1850s
- Reading lane
- 19th-Century US YA