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It bit her face and fingers at harvest time, and made them
bleed. Cutting left blisters on her hands. Sugar cane got in
her hair and there was no escaping the smell of it. When
Missus Beale made a meal with sugar, it turned Sugar’s
stomach.
Sugar was sure there had to be a reason why Ma named her
after that crop but there was no way of knowing, since Ma
had died.
Much as she hated it, though, working with sugar cane was
all that 10-year-old Sugar had ever known. She was born on
River Road Plantation and that’s where she stayed – even
though the end of the Civil War meant she could go anywhere.
She stayed because her freedom meant that her Pa was
free, too. She hoped he’d return to River Road.
In the meantime, Mister and Missus Beale took care of Sugar.
Mister Beale told her stories of Br’er Rabbit, and he said
he liked her “spunk.” Missus Beale tried to keep Sugar busy,
but Sugar often wondered why she couldn’t play with Billy
Wills, her friend and the son of River Road’s owner.
But that wouldn’t happen easily: her friendship with Billy
worried Missus Beale. What’s more, everybody on River Road
was concerned about the fact that Mister Wills was bringing
Chinamen to the plantation to work. He’d decided that a
handful of elderly ex-slaves couldn’t handle the harvest
anymore – which might’ve meant that everyone would lose
their jobs, although Sugar wasn’t sure if that was really
true.
The Chinese seemed nice. They were eager to teach her about
their culture and to learn hers. Still, with all the changes
at River Road, wasn’t it better to convince the Beales that
it was time to head north?
Without a doubt, your child has already learned something
about the Civil War. She’s aware of what happened then – but
what about what happened afterward?
Sugar
tells some of the tale.
In her notes, author Jewell Parker Rhodes explains what she
discovered and how she initially intended to write an adult
book about the post-War years, until she envisioned a little
girl who just wanted to be a kid.
Young readers will be glad she did: despite the uncertainty
she feels about the changes that occurred, Sugar manages to
keep a watchful, self-aware innocence mixed with joy. That
brings this story beyond the dates-and-facts of history, and
gives it a kid-friendly sense your eight-to-12-year-old will
like. As an end-of-school read, in fact, or to keep her
occupied this summer, Sugar is a book she’ll fall
for. |
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