The Jacob Ladder - Hardcover

Hausman, Gerald; Hausman/hinds; Hinds, Uton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531303314 ISBN 13: 9780531303313

Publisher: Scholastic, 2001

About this title

From the Author:

I first heard the story of The Jacob Ladder as it was told in the streets of Oracabessa where the story actually happened.  The storyteller was Uton Hinds, a cab-driver, oil painter and family man.  I loved the story so much that I asked Uton "Tall T" Hinds if I could record it and help him to make it into a book.  He agreed.  Four years later the book was published by Orchard Books, a division of Scholastic.  It became a classroom text in many schools in America and the Caribbean.  Life in Jamaica is rough economically.  But, culturally, there's a lot of love in those St Ann hills where this story unfolds.  Uton's message about forgiveness and love, about how his father -- no matter how badly he treated everyone -- was still his father and respect was due for the one "who gave me life" is worth remembering.  The Christian Science Monitor commented on how carefully written this book was, and how "... native words enhance the educational value and multicultural appeal of this inspiring autobiographical story."  (Courtney Williamson, The Christian Science Monitor, 2001.) Uton has traveled about the U.S. selling his book door-to-door, he is its best salesman.  I heard not too long ago that some students in Miami were sad when they saw Uton's picture.  "He's older than we thought."  Well, that happens.  The story took place in the Fifties and Sixties and Jamaica was a different time and place then and Uton was a little boy.  But the story holds.  It is one of my favorite books on the subject of "love your family whoever they might be" -- and I thank Uton for being tough enough to tell it the way it really happened.

From the Inside Flap:

This exciting story was a New York Public Library Best Book and also a Social Studies Council citation winner. It became a text book in many schools across America but especially in Miami and areas where there were large Jamaican populations. Over the years, The Jacob Ladder has been praised by teachers because it not only shares a Jamaican insight on Jacob in the Bible, but it also shows how a family can pull together in a time of great need. In addition, it shows how a 12-year-old boy supported his whole family when his father abandoned them. Ultimately, the story is about redemption and love and the power of forgiveness.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0531303314
• ISBN 13: 9780531303313
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128