YA Material Review - The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Hill, L. (2007). The Book of Negroes. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

 “Pink is taken as the colour of innocence, the colour of childhood, but as it spills across the water in the light of the dying sun, do not fall into its pretty path. There, right underneath, lies a bottomless graveyard of children, mothers and men. I shudder to imagine all the Africans rocking in the deep... Some people call the sunset a creation of extraordinary beauty, and proof of God's existence. But what benevolent force would bewitch the human spirit by choosing pink to light the path of a slave vessel?” 

– The Book of Negroes, page 7

Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes is a critically acclaimed book that has received many awards including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Overall Book and it was also the winner of CBC’s Canada Reads in 2009. It was published as The Book of Negroes in Canada (English), Great Britain, South Africa and India, as Aminata in French-Canada, and as Someone Knows My Name in the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

The novel is a coming-of-age story about a young African girl who is captured and taken away from her village and sold into slavery after watching her parents’ brutal murders. The story takes the reader through the many trials and few joys that Aminata Diallo face during her life. She struggles to survive on the ship across the Atlantic, on the plantations, on her journey to escape, and finally find peace in her life. Hill’s talent as an author brings to life the feelings and pain of Aminata throughout her journey. 

Although The Book of Negroes is a piece of fiction, the extensive historical research that underlies the story is clearly evident throughout the book. Lawrence Hill travelled around Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Africa to ensure that the details in the book accurately reflected the general experience of the captured slaves in the eighteenth century (http://www.lawrencehill.com/). The integration of the historical facts into the experience of Aminata gives the reader a realistic idea of the physical, sexual and emotional trauma that the slaves endured throughout the slave trade era. 

The Book of Negroes is an excellent cross-over book for young adults that are ready to start venturing into adult fiction, particularly those with an interest in historical novels. The font is set in Carol Twombly’s Adobe Caslon, which was one of the most popular typefaces in the eighteenth century and was patterned by type-cutter William Caslon I of England. The same font was used by Benjamin Franklin to set the type for the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. The cover of the novel also draws in the reader to learn more about the young girl with the “moon-shaped scar” under her beautiful eye. Hill’s descriptions throughout the book helps the reader to visualize and conceptualize, increasing the appeal of the book to young adults.

This is my all-time favourite book, and I believe that young adults would truly benefit and learn from Aminata’s story. 

 ISBN: 978-1-55468-156-3