The Old African

About this book

No one on the plantation had ever heard the Old Africans voice yet he had spoken to all of them in their minds. For the Old African had the power to see the color of a persons soul and read his thoughts as if they were words on a page. Now it was time to acttime to lead his fellow slaves to the Water-That-Stretched-Forever and from there back to Africa. Back to their home. Based on legend and infused with magical realism this haunting tale is beautiful in both its language and its images. Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney have found a new extraordinary way to express the horrors of slavery and the hope and strength that managed to overcome its grip.