The year is 1851. Miles is a slave. By the shrewdness of his Mama Cee, he was assigned at an early age to work in the great house on the Tillery Plantation. Like the other servants-in-training, Miles is proud to wear soft wool knee britches and to use the speech of the great house. Each day he helps to provide the creature comforts of a well-run mansion. Until he is caught looking at the open pages of a book. As a punishment, twelve-year-old Miles is sent to the breaking ground. There he experiences what it really means to be a slave. With the help of a mysterious man named Elijah, Miles learns to read and forms a pact to escape. Watching and waiting, Miles takes risk after risk to gain freedom for himself and Mama Cee in a story that will inspire readers of all ages. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

McGill (Molly Bannaky) compellingly builds a 12-year-old's transformation from complacent house slave to potential runaway in her historical novel set on a South Carolina slave plantation in 1851. Miles finds his life upended when Master Tillery catches him with a book: "Slaves caught looking in books on the Tillery Plantation risked being sold away or maybe even put to death." Instead, Miles's surrogate mother, Mama Cee, forms an "understanding" with the mistress, who sends Miles to a "breakin' ground" to have his spirit broken by greedy overseers. The author deftly builds Miles's awakening through his exposure to this hard labor and cruelty. A newfound friendship with the educated Elijah fuels his growth; he teaches Miles to read through furtively spelling letters in the sand and on his palms. The characters and their connections to and reactions against one another as they betray or help the others heighten the novel's suspense. When Miles returns to the plantation, only his love for Mama Cee dampens his eager wait for Elijah's escape signal. By confining Miles's role to witness rather than actor, the author undercuts some of the drama of the events portrayed. However, the insights he's gained allow him--and readers--to see how the master fosters the caste system of house servants vs. field slaves to prevent rebellion. Ages 10-14. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 6-8-Miles is a 12-year-old slave training to work as a house servant to a South Carolina plantation owner and his family. When he is caught looking at the inside of a book, he is sent off to the "breaking ground" to have his spirit broken. Unfortunately for the master, Miles's experience there does just the opposite. A slave named Elijah recognizes the boy's intelligence and teaches him to read and write. Miles begins to think about how he might gain his freedom. When he returns to the plantation, he manages to become a field hand and waits for Elijah to contact him with instructions on how to escape. The resolution of Miles's story is in question until almost the very end, making this a book that will keep readers turning pages. The depictions of the terrible living conditions, poor diet, brutal punishments, and general dehumanizing effects of slavery are vividly rendered. The field hands speak in dialect, but it is not presented in a condescending manner. House slaves are taught to speak standard English and live in far better conditions, setting up a social hierarchy that plays the different classes against one another. While many of the historical details can be verified easily, the lack of an author's note is troubling in that students may not have ready access to information on the breaking ground or on the slave breeding farm alluded to in the story. This omission, however, does not seriously detract from an otherwise enlightening and absorbing story about a truly memorable character.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 6-9. This harsh slavery story reveals how the masters were deceived. The slaves who appeared most broken, most fearful, most devoted, were sometimes the daring rebels who led the way to freedom. Born in captivity, Miles, 12, is punished for opening a book in the "big house," and he's sent to the breaking ground to learn obedience. But instead of being broken, Miles' spirit is strengthened. He meets an adult slave, Elijah, who teaches him to read and write. From Elijah, Miles learns about books and maps and freedom; he also learns how to act foolish to trick the master and plan his escape. The final runaway journey north with all its narrow escapes is less convincing than the drama on the plantation. Without sensationalism, McGill tells of the daily cruelty and hard labor and of the spies who betray their own people. But Miles' language also tells a story of community and subversion. Even when he can speak like an educated white man, the boy uses field-hand talk: to deceive authority and also to draw strength from his people's "subtle, double-meaning words." (Reviewed April 1, 2000)0395979382Hazel Rochman From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.