Summary
Elijah is the first child born free in
his community of Buxton in Canada West, which is just across the
border from America. The community is made up of former slaves from
America who have been freed or escaped and gone through the
underground railroad to safety in Canada. Elijah, being only 11
years old does not really know the suffering the slaves have gone
through. It is because of this, that Elijah's mother says that he is
so fragile. Elijah does not want to be fragile and tries his best to
prove to his parents that he is not. Elijah attends school, but when
he is free, he goes fishing. He does not use a rod, he chunks rocks
at the fish. He had such good aim, that the stones usually his the
target on the first try and Elijah catches enough fish to share his
catch with his neighbors.
Once, there was a family of escaped
slaves that came to their community. Elijah watched as they were
coaxed out from the forest. Elijah's father helped to welcome them
to their new home and Elijah is given the important task of ringing
the community bell to announce the new arrivals. Elijah knows that
when there are slave hunters in the neighborhood, the people have to
remain wary. One day a letter arrives for Mrs. Holton and Elijah is
given the task of reading it. The letter contained news that Mrs
Holton's husband was beaten to death. So all the money that Mrs.
Holton tried to save to free her husband was given to Mr. Leroy who
is also working to save money to free his wife and son.
Mr. Leroy was swindled out of all the
money by the Right Reverend Deacon Doctor Zephariah Connerly the
Third, otherwise known as the Preacher. When Mr. Leroy leaves Buxton
to go after him, Elijah goes along. When they reach the town where
the Preacher was last seen, Mr. Leroy dies. Elijah decides to try
and find the Preacher on his own. He found the preacher in a barn
already dead at the hands of slave hunters. Shackled to the walls
were four slaves, one of them a woman with a baby. Elijah is shocked
at how the slaves have been treated, knowing instinctively that they
will die. After getting them some water, Elijah leaves to get help,
but no one wants to interfere with the slave hunters.
So Elijah returns with the sad news but
takes the baby with him back to Buxton.
Impressions
This is a wonderful historical fiction
that brings to life the humor and intricacies of a small community
with the horror and degradations of slavery. Once the story begins
to unfold, the reader cannot put the book down. Written in the first
person narrative, Elijah has a child's point of view and definite
opinions about the people he knows. He does his best to prove to his
parents that he is grown up, but it takes a tragedy that he feels
responsible for to make him own up to his mistakes. Elijah had a lot
of growing up to do but when faced with hard decisions, he proves
able and determined to accomplish his task. The book is sometimes so
hilarious that the reader will chuckle out loud, yet there is tension
in the air when the slave hunters come into their area. Tragedy
occurs when the Preacher runs off with Mr. Leroy's money, money that
was meant to free Mr. Leroy's family. Even though Elijah finds
himself alone in a strange place, he still manages to find the
Preacher, although it is too late. Instead he meets with a very hard
decision, that of leaving behind the slaves that were captured and
chained to the wall of the barn. Elijah becomes a hero when he takes
the child from its mother to bring her to a life of freedom in
Buxton.
Use in the library
This book is a good introduction to any
class that is studying about African American slavery practices in
America, the Underground Railroad, or the experiences of freed
slaves. Book club meetings are also a good place to discuss Elijah
and his views on lying, how a story can get bigger and bigger, and
how a racial slur can be a legacy of hate.
Reviews
From Booklist
"After his mother rebukes him for
screaming that hoop snakes have invaded Buxton, gullible 11-year-old
Elijah confesses to readers that “there ain’t nothing in the
world she wants more than for me to quit being so doggone fra-gile.”
Inexperienced and prone to mistakes, yet kind, courageous, and under-
standing, Elijah has the distinction of being the first child born in
the Buxton Settlement, which was founded in Ontario in 1849 as a
haven for former slaves. Narrator Elijah tells an episodic story that
builds a broad picture of Buxton’s residents before plunging into
the dramatic events that take him out of Buxton and, quite possibly,
out of his depth. In the author’s note, Curtis relates the
difficulty of tackling the subject of slavery realistically through a
child’s first-person perspective. Here, readers learn about
conditions in slavery at a distance, though the horrors become
increasingly apparent. Among the more memorable scenes are those in
which Elijah meets escaped slaves—first, those who have made it to
Canada and, later, those who have been retaken by slave catchers.
Central to the story, these scenes show an emotional range and a
subtlety unusual in children’s fiction. Many readers drawn to the
book by humor will find themselves at times on the edges of their
seats in suspense and, at other moments, moved to tears. A fine,
original novel from a gifted storyteller." Reviewed by Carolyn
Phelan
From Horn Book Magazine
"The story of the Underground
Railroad, which led escaping slaves to Canada, has been richly
celebrated in fiction. But what happened after they arrived? In
Elijah’s story we visit the community of Buxton, a refuge for freed
slaves established in 1849 in Canada West, close to the American
border.
Eleven-year-old Elijah, the first child
to be born free in the settlement, is an irresistible character.
Ebullient and compassionate, he is a talker who can torture a
metaphor until it begs for mercy. Opening chapters lull and delight
us with small-town pranks and tall tales. The mood gets chillier when
a new
family of fugitives arrives. Elijah
relates how his Pa explains their fragility: “Don’t no one get
out of America without paying some terrible cost, without having
something bad done permanent to ’em, without having something cut
off of ’em or burnt into ’em or et up inside of ’em.” When a
con man takes off with the funds Elijah’s friend Mr. Leroy saved to
buy his family out of slavery, Elijah and Mr.
Leroy pursue the thief across the
border to Michigan; and there, while hiding out in a barn, Elijah
discovers a small group of captured slaves, shackled to the wall,
barely alive. There is no easy happy ending here, but, in a
heart-rending scene, Elijah reacts with courtesy, courage, and
respect, according the wretched their dignity and giving them the one
gift of freedom in his power. This arresting, surprising novel of
reluctant heroism is about nothing less than nobility."
Reviewed by Sarah Ellis
Resources
Curtis, C.P. (2007). Elijah of
Buxton. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
Ellis, S. (2007 November/December).
[Review of the book Elijah of Buxton by C. P. Curtis]. Horn
Book Magazine, 83(6), 677. Retrieved
from http://archive.hbook.com/magazine/
Phelan, C. (2007, September). [Review
of the book Elijah of Buxton by C. P. Curtis]. Booklist,
104(1), 115-116. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/
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