The Slave Dancer (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) - Hardcover

Fox, Paula

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689845057 ISBN 13: 9780689845055

Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, 2001

Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a thirteen-year-old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo.

From the Publisher:

Snatched from the docks of New Orleans, thirteen-year-old Jessie is thrown aboard a slave ship where he must play his fife so that captured slaves will "dance," and keep their muscles strong and their bodies profitable.

Jessie is sickened by the horrible practices of the slave business. But they are nothing compared to the one final horror that Jessie will witness. Can the cruelty be stopped? And will it be too late when it does?

From the Back Cover:

"Fox has woven a spellbinding tale of suspense and survival that will horrify as well as fascinate..."

-- Library Journal (starred review)

"A story that movingly and realistically presents one of the most gruesome chapters of history, with all the violence, inhuman conditions, and bestial aspects of human nature -- exposed but never exploited in Fox's graphic, documentary prose."

-- Booklist (starred review)