Elijah of Buxton
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. New York, NY:
Scholastic, 2007. ISBN 9780439023450
Summary:
Buxton, Canada – a
settlement founded by freed salves - is home to eleven-year old Elijah (or
‘Lijah, as some call him) Freeman, the first “free born” and very “fra-gile”
(according to his Ma) child. While growing up in Buxton, Elijah encounters many
adventures, including those with his best friend, Cooter and some more
dangerous journeys with the deceitful settlement preacher, Reverend Connerly.
However, Elijah’s most dangerous journey is to help a fellow freed-man, Mr.
Leroy find the thief who stole the money he had saved to buy his family out of
slavery. Will the brave and not so “fra-gile” Elijah be able to safely help his
friend?
Analysis:
Christopher Paul Curtis
has done it once again! His enthralling story, adventurous plot, detailed setting,
and likeable, yet believable characters immediately captivate the reader.
For this book review, I
chose to listen to the audiobook version of Elijah
of Buxton read by Mirron Willis. Willis’ tone and voice inflections really
make this book come alive. Mirron Willis has the ability to vary his voice and
provide accents for each specific character in the story - making this an
audiobook where you can’t stop listening. His deep voice is smooth and clear,
and he pauses at all of the right places making the listener eagerly wait to
hear what’s going to happen next. At one point, I thought I might benefit from
following along with the text while listening as Mirron Willis read; however, I
didn’t find this to be beneficial since Willis’ voice is so powerful at reading
this story aloud. I had to turn off my inner-reading voice, which proved
difficult for me, so I chose to just listen nonstop!
Elijah of Buxton is definitely a favorite of mine when it’s comes to Curtis’ historical
fiction works. That says a lot since Curtis has several others that stand in
good company – The Watsons Go to
Birmingham and Bud, Not Buddy.
This specific historical fiction is unique in that it tells the story of
slavery in an accurate setting that might seem unconventional to most historical
fiction books published on this topic.
Curtis has the ability to
develop characters that the reader can easily connect with, understand, and
dislike, too. Most of his character development takes places through the way
characters respond to specific situations both in actions and words. This is
important to note because this does require keen inference skills on the part
of the reader. Christopher Paul Curtis has accurately portrayed the dialect and
dialogue of the times through the use of language, such as “gunn” (going to),
“axed” (asked), “I’m-a-be” (I will be), “caint” (cannot), and “afore” (before).
Curtis also incorporates the –ed past tense where it’s not grammatically
correct and –est endings to words that don’t typically require this addition
(horrifyingest). Mirron Willis’ inflections for each character help the reader
vividly imagine the characters actions through their words – intonation and
articulation. The reader can “see” the characters in Willis’ voice. Christopher
Paul Curtis has
At the end of the novel,
Christopher Paul Curtis provides the reader with some additional information
about the settlement in Buxton, including a timeline and a brief history of the
Elgin Settlement at Buxton. I found both of these, including the interview with
Curtis’, to be helpful and fascinating. Curtis’ has definitely done his work to
ensure the historical accuracy of this novel. Be sure to pick up the Curtis’
masterpiece – and I’d highly recommend that you listen to Willis’ share it!
Awards and Review Excerpts:
- 2008 Newbery Honor Book
- 2008 Coretta Scott King Award Winner
- 2008 Scott O’Dell Award
- 2007 Jane Addams Book Award
- Winner, Canadian Library Association Book of the Year
- Finalist, Governor General’s Literary Award
- ALA Notable Book
- Publishers Weekly’s Best Children’s Fiction of 2007
From The New York Times: “As in his previous novels, Curtis is a master
at balancing the serious and the lighthearted.”
From Publishers Weekly: “The arresting historical setting and physical
comedy signal classic Curtis (Bud, Not Buddy), but while Elijah's boyish
voice represents the Newbery Medalist at his finest.”
From Children’s Literature: “Christopher Paul Curtis knows how to write
characters so engaging and believable you want to meet them in person. In fact,
after reading his books, you feel like you have.”
From School Library Journal: “This engrossing tale is read by Mirron
Willis who effortlessly varies his rich, textured voice to make each character
unique. This story will captivate listeners.” - Karen T. Bilton, Mary Jacobs
Memorial Library, NJ
From Kirkus
Reviews: “This
is Curtis's best novel yet, and no doubt many readers, young and old, will
finish and say, ‘This is one of the best books I have ever read.’”
Connections:
Collect and share other
historical fiction books by Christopher Paul Curtis, including:
- The Watsons Go to
Birmingham ISBN
9780385382946
- Bud, Not Buddy ISBN 9780553494105
- The Madman of Piney Woods ISBN 9780545156646
- The Mighty Miss Malone ISBN 9780440422143
Collect and share books
concerning slavery in America to build background knowledge, such as:
- If You Lived When There
Was Slavery in America by Anne Kamma ISBN 9780439567060
- Slavery in America by Jean F. Blashfield ISBN
9780531266243
- Enemies of Slavery by David A. Adler ISBN 9780823415960
Research and share
information surrounding the Elgin Settlement at Buxton, Canada. Locate Buxton
on a map.
Research Frederick Douglas
and the Underground Railroad.
Elijah was particularly
good at math. Spend time working through some of his math problems. Prepare a
response to the people who questioned Elijah’s math skills – such as the
Preacher and the fish count or the number of bell rings for the five newest
members of Buxton.
Elijah had a talent with
his hands, especially his left hand, which according to the Preacher was from
the Devil. Elijah had amazing throwing accuracy. Write about something you are
really skilled at doing.
Share some of the
difficult situations Elijah found himself in and talk about how you would have
handled those (i.e. the Preacher lying about Elijah’s talent to make money, having
to read the letter to Mrs. Holton about her husband’s death, finding and
confronting the thief who stole Mr. Leroy’s money).
Listen to Christopher Paul
Curtis talk about his book, Elijah of
Buxton - Barnes and Noble Interview
Visit Christopher Paul
Curtis’ website - NobodyButCuris
Be sure to go and get "urself" a copy!
~ Mandy J
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