| Historical Fiction |
| Fantasy |
| Young Adult Fiction |
Summary
Summary
Master storyteller Walter Mosley deftly mixes speculative and historical fiction in this daring New York Times bestselling novel, reminiscent of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad .
47 is a young slave boy living under the watchful eye of a brutal slave master. His life seems doomed until he meets a mysterious runaway slave, Tall John. 47 finds himself swept up in a struggle for his own liberation.
Author Notes
Walter Mosley was born in Los Angeles, California on January 12, 1952. He graduated from Johnson State College in Vermont. His first book, Devil in a Blue Dress, was published in 1990, won a John Creasy Award for best first novel, and was made into a motion picture starring Denzel Washington in 1995. He is the author of the Easy Rawlins Mystery series, the Leonid McGill Mystery series, and the Fearless Jones series. His other works include Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, 47, Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, and Twelve Steps toward Political Revelation. He has received numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award, and PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"Equal parts history and tall tale, this engaging story of one slave's emancipation is so full of dramatic tension that few readers will realize they're learning something, too," according to PW's starred review. Ages 12-up. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) Drawing on American slave legends of High John the Conqueror, best-selling adult author Mosley creates a science-fiction spellbinder set in the antebellum South. In 1832 slave Forty-seven on Corinthian Plantation is now old enough for his master to send him to work in the cotton fields. The realization of his harsh fate threatens to overwhelm Forty-seven until a charismatic stranger arrives, Tall John from beyond the stars, with a sack full of magical gadgets and a piece of advice for Forty-seven: ""'No master,' he said. 'No nigger either. No cur or demon or weed. Only life and firmament. Only fire and dark.'"" Tall John's silver tongue and advanced alien technology, useful for healing or hiding, make life easier on the plantation and allow Forty-seven to absorb his message of dignity and self-determination. Pitch-perfect dialogue and the amiable first-person narrator's canny knowledge of the dynamics of power establish the story's credible voice; at the same time, the science-fiction frame rests lightly on the compelling plantation story, giving Mosley the freedom to craft a rousing rebellion tale without denigrating those in real life who suffered under slavery without the resources to rebel. Thrilling on many levels, the book's voices, sacrifices, climactic battles, and satisfying escapes will dazzle and provoke readers. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Gr. 7-10. In his first YA book, acclaimed mystery writer Mosley tells a stirring story of escape from slavery in which sf and African American myth blend with the realism of plantation brutality and the courage of resistance. A boy today remembers himself as a 14-year-old slave named 47, living in Georgia in 1832. He recalls being chained, branded, and whipped until the runaway Tall John inspires him to fulfill his destiny and lead his people to freedom. Like the mythical figure High John the Conqueror, the runaway comes from beyond Africa, and he shows the boy the secrets of the universe. Above all, 47 takes in Tall John's repeated lesson (Neither master nor nigger be ), which is finally what sets him free. The magical realism allows for some plot contrivance, but Mosley brings the harsh facts and anguish very close, and the first-person narrative shows and tells how slavery is the most unbelievable part of this whole story. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2005 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7-10-The intense, personal slave narrative of 14-year-old Forty-seven becomes allegorical when a mysterious runaway slave shows up at the Corinthian Plantation. Tall John, who believes there are no masters and no slaves, and who carries a yellow carpet bag of magical healing potions and futuristic devices, is both an inspiration and an enigma. He claims he has crossed galaxies and centuries and arrived by Sun Ship on Earth in 1832 to find the one chosen to continue the fight against the evil Calash. The brutal white overseer and the cruel slave owner are disguised Calash who must be defeated. Tall John inserts himself into Forty-seven's daily life and gradually cedes to him immortality and the power, confidence, and courage to confront the Calash to break the chains of slavery. With confidence, determination, and craft, Tall John becomes Forty-seven's alter ego, challenging him and inspiring him to see beyond slavery and fight for freedom. Time travel, shape-shifting, and intergalactic conflict add unusual, provocative elements to this story. And yet, well-drawn characters; lively dialogue filled with gritty, regional dialect; vivid descriptions; and poignant reflections ground it in harsh reality. Older readers will find the blend of realism, escapism, and science fiction intriguing.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Forty-seven is the name and number of a 14-year-old slave working on Master Tobias's Georgia plantation in 1832. Forty-seven is also the narrator of Mosley's young-adult literature debut, still alive almost two centuries later to tell of his fated encounter with 3,000-year-old Tall John from "beyond Africa," who has arrived in a Sun Ship from planet Elle (where red and purple forests are populated by tiny, multi-colored men and women) in the guise of a young runaway slave. This boldly unusual blend of historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy has some powerful moments, such as when 47 is brutally branded by a sadistic fellow slave; and many heroic moments, such as when 47 and Tall John battle evil forces to keep them from mining the Earth's green powder and destroying the planet. Mostly, however, this is a flawed, didactic exploration of the nature of freedom, juxtaposing the brutality of 19th-century American slavery with the society of a faraway planet where skin color is irrelevant because "behind all existence there is one great mind." (Fiction. 12-16) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
