Copper Sun

aCopper Sun by Sharon Draper

About the author:

Sharon M. Draper visited the slave castles in Ghana several years ago. She was so moved, she knew she had to tell the story of one girl who might have made that harrowing journey through “the door of no return.” Sharon currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she writes the stories that teenagers love to read. She’s also a popular conference speaker, addressing educational and literary groups both nationally and internationally. The recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent for Tears of a Tiger, she has also won the Coretta Schott King Award for Forged by Fire, and the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for The Battle of Jericho. Her other books include Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn and Double Dutch.

About the book:

When Pale strangers enter fifteen-year-old Amari’s village, her entire tribe welcomes them; for in her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration. But these strangers are not here to celebrate. They are here to capture the strongest, healthiest villagers and to murder the rest. They are slave traders. And in the time it takes a gun to fire, Amari’s life as she’s known it is destroyed, along with her family and village.

Beaten, branded, and dragged onto a slave ship, Amari is forced to witness horrors worse than any nightmare and endur humiliations she never thought possible—including being sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas who gives her to his sixteen-year-old son, Clay, as his birthday present.

Now, survivial, and escape are all Amari dreams about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories  in the face of backbreaking plantation work and daily degradation at the hands of Clay, she finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she’ first seemed upon Amari’s arrival and the plantation owner’s wife, despite her trappings of luxury and demonds of her own, is kind to Amari. But these small comforts can’t relieve Amari’s feelings of hopelessness and despair, and when an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most…freedom.

Grand and sweeping in scope, detailed and penetrating in its look at the complicated interrelationships of those who live together on a plantation, Copper Sun is an unflinching and unforgettable look at the African slave trade and slavery in America.

Discussion Guide:

1. Descirbe Amari’s reaction to the news that pale-faced strangers are going to visit the village of Ziavi to that of her mother. What does it reveal about their community? How do they treat the strangers and how are they rewarded for their hospitality?
2. After the attack on the village, what happens to Amari and the people of her village? How are Amari’s people betrayed by the Ashanti?
3. Describe the Cape Coast Castle. What is its use? How are people treated there? What do you think would be the most difficult part of Amari’s journey so far? How are some people able to survive such cruelty?
4. Who is Alfi? How does she help Amari to survive the journey? Have you ever had someone who was not family treat you as if you were?
5.  Alfi tells Amari, “…certain people are chosen to survive. I don’t know why, but you are one of those who must remember the past and tell those yet unborn. You must live.” Would you want to live through the degradations and brutality that Amari has faced so far or not? What does she mean by live to tell?
6. Explain the conditions of the slave ship on which Amari, Alfi and hundreds of other souls must try to survive. Whose conditions and treatment are worse, the men or the women? Defend your answer. Is it difficult to read how brutal this account is and know that America was part of the this cruelty?
7. How do unexpected acts of kindness and friendship throughout the novel help Amari to survive her ordeal? What qualities of Amari herself help her to not just live but learn and develop relationships?
8. Why do you think Draper begins to alternate the points of view between Amari and Polly Pritchard? Who is this girl? What is her story? What assignment is Polly given at Derbyshire Farms?
9. Who is Teenie? What does she know of Africa? How does she pass this on to her own son, Tidbit?
10. Describe life on the plantation? Who is kind, who cruel? Which jobs are the most and least desirable? When Amari serves at the mansion, what happens? Why do you think some people, like Massa Derby and Clay, can develop a taste for cruelty?
11.  “We done fell out of a trouble tree and hit every branch on the way down.” (p. 171) What event is Teenie referring to? How does it unwind a length of unimaginable trouble? Describe what happens to all the characters involved.
12.  Why are Amari, Tidbit and Polly sent for auction? Where are their destinations intended to be? Who aids them in their escape? Would you be brave enough to face their journey?
13. What happens along their path to freedom? What direction have they decided to run? Why? Who hinders and helps them?
14. Amari struggles with her feelings towards white people when she has been both subject to vast cruelty and unexpected kindness. How does she deal with these conflicting emotions? Do you think she is wise to trust her friendship with Polly? Why or why not?
15. Where do the runaways land? How is this place not what they were promised but something worthy anyway? Do you agree, “It be better to die for freedom than live as a slave” (p. 297

Extension Projects:

Language Arts:

Write a scene told through the eyes of Amari or Polly five years after the close of the novel.

History:

Create a map of the journey that Amari took from her village in Africa to her final destination.

Art:

Create a piece of sculpture inspired by Amari’s story. Be sure to explain your choice of media, color, form, and shapes in a brief artist’s statement which you enclose with the piece.

Additional Resources:

Visit www.sharondraper.com to learn more about the author of this novel.

www.freedomcenter.org for lesson plans and other information about slaves and their escapes.

www.loc.gov

for vast resources including primary sources about the slave trade in America

This guide was prepared by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, a literacy specialist and author of The Floating Circus, visit her website to find hundreds of guides to children’s and young adult literature.

Stella Stands Alone

Stella Stands Alone

by A. LaFaye

About the book:

When her father is murdered and her mother succumbs to yellow fever, fourteen-year-old Stella Reid finds herself orphaned—and her beloved home in jeopardy. Because of her age and her gender, Stella has no claim to her family’s plantation. She might have a chance if only her father, and his progressive ideas about slavery, hadn’t alienated the Reids from their neighbors but now the bank has repossessed Oak Grove. Even though Stella and the folks who work the plantation have few rights in the antebellum South, Stella fights against incredible odds in order to preserve the only home she’s ever known.

A.LaFaye (the A is for Alexandria) holds a BA in history from the University of Minnesota, an MA in English from Minnesota State University, Mankato, an MA in children’s literature from Hollins University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Memphis. Her most recent book, Worth, was awarded the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. She lives in Cabot, Arkansas. Visit her at www.alafaye.com.

Pre-reading:

Read the letter from the author at the beginning of the book. Then, discuss the idea of alternative history. What American or worldwide events from history would you most like to change? What would the domino effect of that decision be? Why do you think the author chose to write this story with an alternative historical approach? Predict what you think will be most important about using this literary device.

Discussion Guide:

1. After reading the first chapter, fill out the following graphic organizer:

Main Character	Conflict	Setting	Prediction

2. Explain why Stella’s upbringing is extraordinarily different from most daughters from that time period and location. Why is she so peculiar with some people even calling her “touched?” How does it add to her conflicts with those around her?
3. Do you think Hattie’s problem is even worse than Stella’s? Why or why not? What about Miss Rosie? What memories haunt her? Whose shoes would you least like to be inside? Why?
4. What promise had Stella’s father made to the folks who worked at Oak Grove? Why couldn’t he keep that promise? Is it better to break a promise or never to have made one in the first place?
5. What plan do the people of Oak Grove make to stay on the land? How is cooperation imperative for this to work? What could go wrong with the plan? How does Stella plan to keep her home? What would you do to keep yours?
6. How is the money Stella finds “blood money?” Do you think there is ever a circumstance where blood money should be used? What would you do if you found yourself in possession of something that had been gotten through the suffering of others? What would you do?
7. What happened to Mr. Reid and Mr. Beeman? Were they targeted? Why? Do people still act out in violence against those with whom they disagree?
8. Mr. Vinson suspects that Stella might try to outbid the folks on the fallow land. Why does he have no trust in Stella? How is trust developed? How is it fixed when damaged? Have you ever had to rebuild trust?
9. Richardson is a formidable antagonist and adversary to Stella. What has he done to hold Stella and the folks of Oak Grove down? How did things sour between the Reids and the Richardsons? What events can be traced back to Richardson? Why was Stella’s family targeted?
10. Stella is stumped on the combination to daddy’s safe. Is she ever able to find out what’s inside? Does it solve her problems? What numbers would be important to you or your family?
11. How does cousin Mertle come to aid Stella? Why does she choose to get involved? Who would you turn to if your needed help? Can you imagine Stella living inside Miss Mertle’s world or not? Why?
12. Stella listens to the voice of God to lead her actions as she prays for advice. How does she show her faith? What solace does it bring her?
13. Why is Stella’s plan to use a Yankee such a bold move against the community? Why are Yankees so hated in the south? How does Mr. Dooley aide Stella? What does he expect in return? Do the people of Oak Grove fair well in the auction or not?
14. “I’ve always been one to follow my own path—cutting through the woods while most people take the road, using an open window rather than a door, sitting on a roof ‘stead of a porch. …I followed my mind.” (p. 13) Do you, like Stella, care little for what others think you should do or do you feel bound by expectations? Do you think Stella’s ways hinder or help reach her goals?
15. How do the day-to-day operations at Oak Grove work? How is it not what Mr. Dooley expected? Contrast it to the way most plantations in the Delta were run during this period.  In the end what happens to Oak Grove?
16. Why do you think the author decided to write this novel with an alternative history approach? How does it lend itself to new perspectives on the time period? What setting would you choose for an alternative history story that you might write? Why?
17. What weapon does Richardson use against Oak Grove and the folks on it? What techniques do they have to fight against fire in this time? Besides fire, what other forms of intimidation do they use? Would you be scared enough to fall in line given similar circumstances? What are the long-term effects for both land and people?
18.  Miss Rosie lost all three of her sons- not to death, but slavery. How does this haunt her? In the end is she able to reconnect with any of them? How difficult would it be for former slaves to find each other?  Without literacy how could people reconnect?
19. How are matters of ownership of Oak Grove finally figured out? What happens to Mr. Dooley? Why has Mr. Dooley felt like a failure despite his wealth and opportunities? How is Hattie’s contract finally resolved? How were African American people often controlled despite the end of slavery?
20. LaFaye’s language is both rich and lyrical, “Day hadn’t even shaken the night out of his coat”(p. 20) as well as colloquial, “ That man had him more secrets than a family of five daughters.” (p. 191) Find your favorite examples of both and discuss what the language contributes to story.

Project

History:

Research the sharecropping system of the post Civil War era in America. How did the economic system work? Create a poster about what you learned.

Math:

The folks on Oak Grove would only be paid $2.50 a week by the time the upkeep of the cabins and the fees for a teacher were deducted from their pay. Research the cost of typical goods and services of that time period and create a budget based on this wage. How could people survive?

Oak Grove  (1700 acres and all buildings p. 125-126) sold for a whopping 56,000 just after the Civil War. How much would a property like this cost today? Create a chart that shows the inflation of real estate in the United States in the last 100 years.

Reading:

As you read Stella Stands Alone write a prediction at the end of each chapter about what you think will happen next. Be sure to use clues from the story and what you know about novel structure to make your predictions logical. Remember though that being right is less important than being an active reader (after all, readers love to be surprised too!)

Writing:

Write a short story which is based on an alternative historical event. Play master to the past! Then, as a class, discuss which story would have the most repercussions to modern society.

Resources on the Web:

http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_SouthSlavery.shtml

http://www.hist.unt.edu/web_resources_mil/pre_civil_war.htm

http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/history/civwar.shtml

The Floating Circus

Discussion Guide

The Floating Circus by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

                                                                                                                         

Pre-reading:

As a class, brainstorm a list of words associated with a circus. Then, see if you can classify these words in a few different ways (for example: nouns, verbs, people, etc.)

Discussion Guide:

1.       Describe Owen Burke. Is he a person you’d like to make friends with? How does he change while on the boat? What is the most important thing he learns about himself and the world?

2.       Why does Owen decide to leave his brother on the orphan train? Would you be willing to make such a sacrifice? Do you think he’s making the right choice?

3.       Explain how Owen ends up on the River Palace. Do you consider this a lucky or unlucky turn of events? Would you want to work on the River Palace? Why or why not?

4.       Compare life on the River Palace with Owen’s life in the orphanage. How are they different? How are they similar? If you had to choose between them which would you pick? Why?

5.       Solomon says about orphans, “Even a slave is worth more.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree? How does Solomon help Owen to see things differently? Are there still groups of people today (like orphans and slaves in Owen’s time) who are treated as less important? Why or why not?

6.       Owen says, “Slavery just was. I hadn’t questioned it any more than I’d questioned why leather was brown.” Why hadn’t Owen ever questioned the institution of slavery before meeting Solomon? How do his views on it change over the course of the novel? Is it possible that we accept things in our own world now that should be questioned? What kind of things?

7.       What would you most like to see on the River Palace? Which job would you most like to have? Least like to have? Do you think a River Palace would be popular today? How was it special for that time?

8.       Explain how Owen comes to know and care for the elephant, Little Bet. Would you want the responsibility of caring for such an enormous animal? What would be the most interesting aspect of it? What would be the most difficult?

9.       Discuss which of the literary elements you find most interesting in the novel—the unique setting, Owen’s  character or conflicts, or maybe the events themselves? Which of the five elements (character, plot, setting, conflict, theme) is most important for you as a reader? Do you think this relates directly to the kinds of books you most like to read? Why?

10.   Owen makes a difficult decision at the end of the novel. Would you have made the same choice? Is sacrifice a natural consequence of growing up?

Projects:

Language Arts—

Write letters from Owen to Zachary as you read the novel, summarizing what Owen is experiencing and feeling as he goes on his adventure.

Reading—

Solomon desperately wants to learn how to read. Unfortunately, many adults today are illiterate like Solomon. Research the programs available in your area for literacy, and then hold a fundraiser to support this important cause.

History—

Create a timeline of the five years before the novel and five years after, and list ten major events in the decade. Find at least two facts about each event, and include that information on the timeline. In a short essay, explain why this period is such a pivotal moment in American history.

In small groups, research one of the following topics from the novel and present the information to the entire class. Use at least three different resources for your information, only one of which can be from the Internet.

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Mason-Dixon Line

Yellow fever

Orphan trains

History of the circus

Historical treatment of people with disabilities or differences

Mississippi River

Slavery

Underground Railroad

Art—

Design one of the sets for the movie adaptation of the novel. Use photography, computer design programs, or any media that helps you best depict your vision of the scene. In a brief paragraph, explain why you made the choices you did concerning color, lighting, and architectural elements.

Freedom Ship

Freedom Ship

by Doreen Rappaport

illustrated by Curtis James

About the book:

During the Civil War, young Samuel and his father work on a Confederate steamship out of Charleston, South Carolina. Samuel and his family are born slaves. Every day when they look beyond the harbor filled with Confederate ships, they can see the Atlantic Ocean, where the Union ships are, where their freedom lies.

In only they could somehow get there. On May 13, 1862, Samuel and his family take their chances and risk it all to be free. Based on a true incident, Doreen Rappaport’s riveting story gives readers a glimpse into history, while Curtis James’ stunning illustrations further illuminate this gripping and suspenseful adventure.

Author Interview:

1. How did you learn about this remarkable story?
2. What types of historical documents do you research when you’re writing a story like this one?
3. What advice do you have for young writers?

About the guide:

This guide includes discussion questions intended to provoke thought and insight into the themes of the book, which include freedom, family, risk and hope.

Pre-reading:

What do you think is the meaning of the title? How can a ship take someone to freedom?

Is the book set in this time period or long ago? What makes you think this? What clues do author’s use to tell us what the time period is?

Discussion guide:

1.      What is a slave? When did America have slavery?

2.      Who is telling the story? Where did he learn it?

3.      Who is the Union? Who are the confederates? What war are they fighting?

4.      Why would Samuel be free if he could only get to a Union ship?

5.      Why does Samuel’s mother tell him to do everything quietly? What could happen if he disobeyed?

6.      How do they get past the other ships and the islands that are guarded? What is the plan if they get caught? Why are they willing to do that?

7.      Why does Pap put on Captain Relyea’s clothing? Does it work?

8.      What do they do with Samuel’s white sheet? What does it mean?

9.      What do they give to the Union Army? Why?

10.  Would you be willing to risk everything for such a daring escape? Why or why not?

Projects:

Language Arts:

Write the dialogue between the escaping women and children hidden in the dark cabin below deck. What might they be whispering to each other? What hopes do they have for their new life?

Social Studies/ Geography:

Color a United States map from the 1860’s. Color the union states blue and the confederate states red. Place an X where this story takes place.

Art:

The color of freedom. Create two pieces of art, an abstract painting that uses colors, shape and design to represent slavery and a second piece that uses colors, shape and design to represent freedom. Explain your choices in a brief artist’s statement.

www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com

Freedom River

Teacher’s Guide for

Freedom River

By Doreen Rappaport

Illustrated By Bryan Collier

Discussion Questions

1. Have you ever been afraid? When?
2. What were Sarah and Isaac afraid of?
3. Do you think John Parker was afraid too? Then why did he help?
4. What does it mean to be brave? Who was brave in this story?
5. Collage is when an artist cuts and layers paper (and sometimes lots of other materials too like fabric, metal, wood or plaster) to create a piece of art that looks so real you want to touch it! Which one of Bryan Collier’s collages is your favorite? Why?
6. A palette is the colors that an artist chooses to show the feelings of a picture. Choose two pictures to compare. Why do you think Bryan Collier used these colors for each part of the story?

Vocabulary

As a class define and give examples of the following vocabulary words. Try to use each word in a sentence that helps a reader understand what it means. Example: Tanya tried to escape from her chores by hiding under the bed after dinner.

slavery

freedom

escape

Underground Railroad

Projects:

Art: Cut out white paper in the shape of an artist’s palette. Copy one of the vocabulary words in the middle. Use the primary colors plus white and black to mix and create at least seven new shades you think would go best with that word. Put dabs of the color around the outside ring of your palette and share your choices with a partner or friend.

Language Arts:

Write a letter to one of the characters in the story and tell them what you learned from them.

Social Studies:

Ask your grandparents, parents, teachers or neighbors to tell you a story about a brave act by someone they know. Write that story! Then, write your own story about a brave person you know.

Discussion Questions

1. How can learning about the brave acts of people in history help us today? What did you learn from John Parker, Isaac, and Sarah?
2. What did John Parker risk by helping slaves cross the river? What would you be willing to risk and for whom?
3. Read the author and illustrator’s note. How does it help you understand the story?
4. Read the historical note. Were you surprised by the amount of research it takes to write a picture book? Why is it so important to be historically accurate?
5. Bryan Collier, the artist, chooses different colors for each of the illustrations. Look at two illustrations and compare them. Why do you think the illustrator chose these particular colors for this text?

Vocabulary

Sometimes we don’t know all the words we read in a book but we can figure them out by how they are used in the story. As the teacher reads aloud Freedom River again, stop when you hear one of the following words. As a class make a guess to what the word means. Then, in pairs look up the words and compare the class meaning to the dictionary definition.

sympathetic

fugitives

transported

taunted

plantation

illuminated

taunt

cruelty

skiff

exchange

indignantly

gracious

Projects:

Research one of the following topics and write a brief paragraph summarizing what you learned:

* Abolitionists such as: Frederick Douglas, John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Robert Purvis, Lydia Childs, William L. Garrison, Elizur Wright, Harriet Tubman, Ada C. Bowles

* Research other stops on the Underground Railroad at these sites:

www.undergroundrailroad.com

http://www.nynews.com/blackhistory/main.html

Freedom’s Trail

http://americancivilwar.com/underground_railroad.html

Good overview

* Other stories of slaves escaping slavery

* Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854

* Fugitive Slave Law

Language Arts:

Write a newspaper article as if it was written during the time period that you researched. You can use direct quotes from famous abolitionists, common Americans, or even the President to show how people felt about the issues of the time. You could write a variety of types of articles that appear in a newspaper including a feature article, obituary, special report or interview.

Art:

Collage is when an artist cuts and layers paper (and sometimes lots of other materials too like fabric, metal, wood or plaster) to create a piece of art that looks so real you want to touch it! Create a river scene inspired by Bryan Collier’s collage. You can use any type of material that inspires you- ribbon, a variety of papers, fabric, leaves; pipe cleaners- use your imagination.

www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com