Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9780545156653 Paperback
384 Pages | 5.24" x 7.58" | Ages 8 to 12
Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9780545633765 Ebook
384 Pages | Ages 8 to 12
Scholastic Canada Ltd | ISBN 9781443139120 Hardcover
384 Pages | 5.77" x 8.53" | Ages 8 to 12
Hailed as a modern-day Mark Twain, Christopher Paul Curtis introduces two clever, funny, brave, utterly authentic kids. Benji and Red are boys young readers will want to run around in the woods with, play pranks on, and entrust with their deepest secrets.
Set in Buxton, Ontario, a settlement of runaway slaves, forty years after the events of Elijah of Buxton, the story unfolds through Benji and Red's alternating first-person narratives. Through their eyes, we meet two different, yet equally damaged, individuals: an Irish immigrant woman whose journey to Canada proves as devastating as the famine she's escaping, and a Black Canadian soldier who barely survives the American Civil War only to find he no longer fits in back home.
As the boys discover that their elders have been forever scarred by their pasts, so do we readers come to understand more than we could learn from any history lesson. Here is a novel that will break your heart — and expand it, too.
A Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Winner, TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
Winner, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
Winner, Canadian Library Association Book of the Year For Children
* "Rich, masterful storytelling. . . . 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.'" —Kirkus, starred review
* "A fine, original novel from a gifted storyteller. . . . Readers drawn to the book by humor will find themselves, at times, on the edge of their seats in suspense and, at others, moved to tears." —Booklist, starred review
* "Curtis's talent for dealing with painful periods of history with grace and sensitivity is as strong as ever."—School Library Journal, starred review
* "[Elijah] is an irresistible character. . . . This arresting, surprising novel of reluctant heroism is about nothing less than nobility." —Horn Book, starred review
* "It is, in short, quintessential Curtis, sure to please his legions of fans and to cultivate new ones." —Booklistl, starred review
* "Humor and tragedy are often intertwined, and readers will find themselves sobbing and chuckling, sometimes in the same scene." —Kirkus, starred review
