Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers: The Story of the Last Black Cargo

by Zora Neale Hurston, Ibram X. Kendi (Adaptation), Jazzmen Lee-Johnson (Illustrator)

In the first middle grade offering from Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, young readers are introduced to the remarkable and true-life story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Atlantic human trade, in an adaptation of the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed  Barracoon . This is the life story of Cudjo Lewis, as told by himself. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America to be enslaved, eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis was then the only person alive to tell the story of his capture and bondage—fifty years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the United States. Cudjo shared his firsthand account with legendary folklorist, anthropologist, and writer Zora Neale Hurston. Adapted with care and delivered with age-appropriate historical context by award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi, Cudjo’s incredible story is now available for young readers and emerging scholars. With powerful illustrations by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, this poignant work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, Biography, African American, Memoir, Historical

208 pages, Hardcover

Published January 23, 2024

About the author

Novels, including Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), and nonfiction writings of American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston give detailed accounts of African American life in the South.

In 1925, Hurston, one of the leaders of the literary renaissance, happening in Harlem, produced the short-lived literary magazine Fire!! alongside Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman shortly before she entered Barnard College. This literary movement developed into the Harlem renaissance.

Hurston applied her Barnard ethnographic training to document African American folklore in her critically acclaimed book Mules and Men alongside fiction Their Eyes Were Watching God . She also assembled a folk-based performance dance group that recreated her Southern tableau with one performance on Broadway.

People awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to Hurston to travel to Haiti and conduct research on conjure in 1937. Her significant work ably broke into the secret societies and exposed their use of drugs to create the Vodun trance, also a subject of study for fellow dancer-anthropologist Katherine Dunham, then at the University of Chicago.

In 1954, the Pittsburgh Courier assigned Hurston, unable to sell her fiction, to cover the small-town murder trial of Ruby McCollum, the prosperous black wife of the local lottery racketeer, who had killed a racist white doctor. Hurston also contributed to Woman in the Suwanee County Jail , a book by journalist and civil rights advocate William Bradford Huie.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the original book by Zora Neale Hurston years ago and now have read the adaptation for young readers by Ibram X. Kendi. He kept the flavor, the horror and the heartbreak told to Hurston by Cudjo Lewis, captured and brought to the states by the Clotilda, the last slave ship to bring slaves. Even then, it was illegal and they slipped through and even tried to burn the ship to keep it from being found. In his own dialect, Cudjo, African name, Kossula, begins telling of his life in Africa which he has never forgotten and seemed to yearn for it even as he worked hard as a slave, then a free man, helping to create their next home, Africatown. This was the advanced copy and the art by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson was not complete, but it looks as it will be powerful illustrations that capture some special parts of Kudjo's story. It will be a good book for many kids to learn of that time from one who lived it.
Thanks to Harper Collins Children's Books for this copy.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

I’ve read Hurston’s original version and am in awe of the YA adaptation. Ibram X Kendi has done an outstanding job adapting this book for younger readers. So moving and haunting. An excellent read for any age.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Dr. Kendi but I worry that the dialect in this adaptation would be challenging for young people. The illustrations are beautiful.

[Amanda F · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 Wonderful!!

[D.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the adaptation was well-done. For one, it cuts the filler and the many many prefaces of the original Barracoon.

The Transatlantic HUMAN trade and other enslavement practices are explained so simply here. This is meant for children, but it works for anyone to get the gist of his story.

But Kossula's story is still the same heartbreaking sadness as it is in any format.

Barracoon Review

[Barb Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific primary source told by a an African sold into slavery in the USA. “The past is always teaching us through stories.”

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For more bookish opinions, visit my blog: Craft-Cycle

A fantastic historical text adapted for young readers. Barracoon tells the story of Kossola (Cudjo Lewis), one of the men who was brought to America on the last slave ship, Clotilda. The story follows Kossola's life in Africa, his capture, the journey to America, his enslavement, his family life, helping to found Africatown, and his growing friendship with Zora Neale Hurston.

The book covers many topics including loss of loved ones, religion, discrimination, friendship, and grief.

Difficult to read at times, this book is a fantastic way for young readers to put a face to history when learning about the slave trade, the history of slavery in America, and its aftermath. The book does not shy away from the horrific treatment of African people and the continued discrimination after the abolition of slavery in America.

Kendi wonderfully adapts Hurston's original text, presenting Kossola's life as well as the friendship between Kossola and Hurston. A nice balance of capturing Kossola's speech patterns while making the text readable and easy to understand for young readers.

Wonderful artwork that really captures the joy, sorrow, fear, and heartbreak of the text. The art style really plays into the themes of memory and reflection.

A truly powerful story and a remarkable adaptation.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason I gave this 4 Stars was because I wanted more detail…which I know I can get in the original version. This is an excellent resource for young students in the US, and I wish it could be required reading.

[Emma Kagan]

Evaluated for English Festival 2026!

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been wanting to read Barracoon for years, but I struggle to make the time for very many adult books. When I saw that a young readers adaptation was coming out, I jumped at the opportunity to read this story. It is filled with so much sadness and hurt but also so much happiness. I am so glad that this story can now be read by younger audiences as well, though some readers may struggle to read Kossola's dialect which is written out in Ebonics. Powerful and profound and thought provoking.

[Catherine (Cather.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reimagines the true story of Cudjo Lewis and his life as a slave. It is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston's writings and tries to remain true to the voice that she told it in, while making it readable for younger kids. The book is also illustrated, which helps bring this story to life for its young audience.

[Lindsay Keim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read and an important piece of history to remember. I want a fan of how it was written, though. The ebonics gave it authenticity but made it hard to understand. I found it to be distracting, and I caught myself wondering if I was pronouncing things correctly instead of focusing on the story.

[Rebecca Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not often that I hear of a “new” book by a classic author, but Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston never was published during her lifetime due to the subject matter: interviews from the 1920s with one of the last enslaved people from Africa. Finally, it was published in 2018. Now, Ibram X. Kendi has adapted and edited this unique collection of interviews for young readers (published by Amistad Books for Young Readers, January 2024). Barracoon (for Young Readers) is a first person narration of Zora Neale Hurston’s 1920s interviews with Cudjo Lewis. As one of the last Blacks kidnapped from Africa as a part of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Cudjo (born Kossula) was illegally brought to America in 1860. Although his “owners” faced consequences for their illegal actions, he and the others kidnapped with him were not freed until the Emancipation Proclamation. Even then, returning to their African home was not an option.

The majority of Cudjo’s speech was in Ebonics, which Zora Neale Hurston explained in the beginning notes. Likewise, spelling of some of the speech conventions were adapted by Kendi in this young reader’s version. I cannot compare it to the original volume, but from my perspective, Kendi’s adaption met his goals: It gave Cudjo a voice and provided an age-appropriate glimpse into the end of the slave trade in America, as well as the consequences and pains that came to those kidnapped.

The book was stream of consciousness and therefore somewhat hard to follow. Especially with the dialectical speech, the text would most likely be best appreciated by young adults. It is a difficult subject, after all. Zora Neale Hurston tells of her interviews with Cudjo from her perspective “I went to visit ….” and so forth. Her story of Cudjo’s story feels very matter of fact as we are brought onto the porch to listen to the man’s story, he with tears in his eyes, even sixty years after he was kidnapped.

Barracoon did capture hopelessness that penetrated early adult life of one kidnapped and taken to a foreign land to be enslaved . Cudjo finds it difficult to tell his story. His emotions are real and raw as he talks about his childhood and his feelings while traveling to America via the Middle Passage. Hurston has skillfully captured the essential story of one of history’s oppressed. His story finally can be told to the world after one hundred years.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jess Wisloski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a school librarian, and I really loved this for a unique way to peer into the past and also, see how effective storytelling approaches and interviews come about, how they evolve, and the choices writers make when interpreting voices from the past. I haven't read the unabridged one, so I can't compare with adult versions or original works, but the fact that this material was only originally published in 2018, and is now highly accessible to younger readers is wonderful.

My K-5 students are unlikely to probably seek it out, I think it's more likely to be useful for a middle school audience and H.S. too, but I'm keeping it on the shelves, for those every now-and-then kids who are really interested in deep dives into historical past stories. Of all the historical, nonfiction novels I have, this is closer to the right length, the right font size, the right complexity level, and the right length of chapters (broken into episodic stories) for young readers.

That said, because of the lack of any standards around teaching the history of the Atlantic slave trade in the U.S., it might also be confusing for readers as far as the timeline. I personally am unsure if even my child, a middle schooler, understands what it means that a ship was constructed, and sailed to illegally abduct people to work as free laborers, bringing them and killing many in the process, on that harrowing journey across the ocean, even after the U.S. had made doing that very act illegal, while still upholding the rights of ownership and property to existing slaveholders in the country. But - what a study on point of view, and perspective, as you hear Oluale's account of what it meant for the war to be happening, and what it meant that it was over, to be freed but have nothing at all.

Definitely worth it for institutional purchases, and anyone interested in the topic. A short, powerful and clearly adapted read.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon so I had a point of reference for this book and how it may have been adapted for the middle-grade reader audience. I wondered if it would inject more contemporary concepts of racial thought and justice.
Kendi has remained true to Cudjo's remembrances of his time as a young man in Africa, as an enslaved man and as a free man. In places the sentence structure has been modified to be a bit more readable, make a bit more sense to the reader. I admit there were times I had to reread paragraphs in Hurston's book to figure out what was being represented - Cudjo's language, his 2nd language, could be a bit convoluted.
Kendi did remove some components that could be upsetting for the younger reader, particularly some of the horrific actions of the African tribe that captured Cudjo.
It's a good addition to a young person's study of the history of enslavement in this country, particularly as it is told by a person who was born free compared to the remembrances of those born into enslavement.
I'm sure it will be a candidate for being banned, but there is nothing in this book that would warrant that action. Of course I don't think any book should be banned.

[Brooke - TheBrookeList · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zora Neale Hurston leaves a rich legacy of stories that represent her Black heritage and Barracoon is no exception. It's sort of delightful to find a text that wasn't able to find a publisher while she was alive, because it feels like an extra gift in our modern day. This adaptation of her in-person interviews with a man who was brought to the US on a slave ship is unique and well-written. The adaptation for children is accessible and appropriate. It feels like an oral history that crosses time, reaching out to touch us with the feeling of what it was like to be taken from your homeland, and to be a slave in a new homeland. Barracoon is interesting and important, but may not ring astounding for too many young readers, if they've read more exciting fiction stories. Barracoon feels like a lived life, a little unextraordinary, despite its importance.

Read as a nomination in the nonfiction book award category as a panelist for Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils Awards).

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the original BARRACOON book, so I can't compare this children's version with the adult one, but I can say that reading this adaptation makes me want to read the original. Cudjo Lewis's story is fascinating, especially as it's told in his words and voice. The horror of what he experienced—not just as a captive and enslaved person, but also afterward when he continued to endure racism, violence, hardship, sorrow, and loneliness—comes through loud and clear, even though it's been filtered for a young audience. Cudjo's strength and even hopefulness shine through as well.

Although, in theory, I like that Cudjo's unique way of speaking has been preserved in these pages. However, I often had trouble understanding not just his words, but also their meanings. It took some time to get used to it, which is tough when the book is very short. I'm not sure if young readers would have the patience to wade through it, even though BARRACOON would add greatly to their understanding of enslavement, racism, and other important issues.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cujdo Lewis tells a story all of us must hear and remember. This is his story, his words, written down by Zora Neale Hurston. Cudjo recalls life in Africa, with a comuunity and king and celebrations, and harvests functioning well. There weredetractors, other communities and tribes who differed some from his group of people, but everyone worked well together, trading and sharing. Until it didn't.

Cudjo Lewis was on the last Human Trade ship to America. Buying and selling of humans had already been outlawed. The ship moored in the stealth of night. It was later burned lest evidence be found concerning this last shipment of flesh.
Cudjo recalls being sold, apart from his family, his neighbors, his community. After the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, he and all of the other African Americans in the area were freed, but had no land, no prosperity, no jobs. They banned together, gradually buying small plots of land, and becoming their own Africa Town.

Good story. An important story to read and remember.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the original Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston she recounts how she spent two months interviewing Cudjo/Kossula about his experiences as the last living person to have made the middle passage from Africa to America in 1927. Ibram X. Kendi has adapted Zora Neale Hurston's book for children. Kendi provides an introduction that helps the reader understand who Cudjo and who Zora Neale Hurston were, and to help the reader understand why Cudjo's speech is written the way it is in the book. The rest of the book is Hurston's conversations with Cudjo. Despite this being a book that has been simplified for children you still get a real feel for Hurston and Cudjo's personalities in their conversations, and you can see that even though Cudjo was an old man when he spoke to Hurston, he still found it difficult to talk about many of the things that had happened to him.

The book is very moving, and makes a good introduction to some of the unsavory parts of American history.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply moving and incredible account of Cudjo Lewis (known as Kossula in Africa), his experience being captured and sold into slavery and his life after slavery. Delicately adapted for the middle-grade audience, this story, told by Cudjo himself, is a significant historical reference to the time when slavery was on the verge of abolishment (yet still occurring) and the desire for the enslaved people to have freedom, equality, and their culture. Told in a voice that demonstrates the language African’s used after settling in to America, this book celebrates a culture left behind.

Kendi and Johnson’s adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s work is bound to be included in historical curriculum - a book that takes young readers beyond the history books with a first hand account of a man sold into slavery and set free in a foreign country. A story of resilience, devotion, strength, honor, and family.

[Bren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great children's book that names difficult realities about America's past. The writing really captures Cudjo's sacred story, while revealing how difficult it is for him to tell. One of the last survivors of the Atlantic slave trade, the ship he was brutally transported in scuttled to evade discovery was only just recently found in 2018! This is a great introduction to Ebonics as well. Even for adults, this gives a summary of an important story and historical reality. The illustrations in the book are stunning, and quite telling of the emotions, trauma, and even the resilience and joy being found in the midst. Grateful for Hurston & Kendi's important contribution to enlightening young readers! I was lucky enough to go to a book signing with Kendi here in Denver where he talked about the critical reasons this new book came to life.

[BiblioBrandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi's Barracoon: The Story of the Last American Slave brings young readers into the remarkable life of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last living witnesses of the transatlantic slave trade. Through Cudjo's direct account, as shared with Hurston, the book provides a moving and accessible exploration of this somber part of history.

Kendi's adaptation simplifies the original text, making it more appropriate for younger audiences. It effectively explains the transatlantic slave trade and its profound effects while preserving the emotional depth of Cudjo's narrative.

Pair with Kwame Alexander's The Door of No Return and African Town by Charles Waters and Irene Latham. Both books are novels-in-verse and offer essential insights into the history of slavery and its lasting impact.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now want to read the adult version, because Hurston's words, especially at the end, are so powerful. What an utterly sad and utterly beautiful book! Cudjo Lewis loses so much in his life--his freedom, as a boy in his teens; the friends and countrymen he is captured with; and then, once he himself is free, he outlives his wife and all his children. Yet he remains capable of generosity and gratitude. He is faithful in his duties as sexton and grateful for learning of Jesus. But he--rightly and naturally--never stops longing for African soil. And no human power can ever give him back all he has lost.

The stark illustrations intensify the feeling in this book.

Essential for all libraries serving young teens--and their parents, and all U.S. citizens.

[Kirstenszantor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Kendi speaking in Buffalo less than a week ago and he described the process of how he went about adapting this book, thinking of how Lewis might tell the story of his life to his great grandchildren as well as how his own 7yo daughter might need it to be told: truthful, but gentle, without the worst of the trauma. The story is incredibly sad, but not as sad as the traumatic truth it alludes to. He also spoke about how Hurston wanted to keep the language of Lewis and so Kendi, in the same tradition, devised a way to do the same but also make it easier for children to read.

How do we, as a nation, continue to deny the affects the enslavement of Africans continues to have?

[Kristen M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an adapted for young readers edition of Zora Neale Hurston's original Barracoon. I learned that a barracoon is the name of the actual wooden pen that was used to keep enslaved people captive while they awaited their fate for slave ships to take them across the Atlantic.

Zora Neale Hurston interviewed Cudjo Lewis, a former slave in the late 1920s in Alabama who had been one of the last people transported illegally to the United States in bondage in 1860 on the Clotilda. This adaptation uses Cudjo's dialect phonetically, similar to speech patterns used in the Color Purple by Alice Walker.

[Abbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is for young readers, I wasn't sure I could handle a heavier adult version. This was beautifully put together with illustration and quotes that were moving. The intensity and authenticity of Zora Neale Hurston's writing is impactful and the adaptation by Ibram X. Kendi is of course well done. Highly recommend for kids anywhere from age 8 (if on the mature side) to 13. Or adults struggling with life and need a bit more approachable version to this epic story in Cudjo Lewis's own words. Heartbreaking but important to know the real history of founding the Americas/Caribbean--and the generational trauma that still spreads through today.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I could see myself using exerpts of this text... I need to see some examples of how to use it in a classroom. (Edited Note: Harper Collins has teacher guides that are helpful.) -- Also ideas of how to include some children's books, etc.

It was much easier listening to the traditional Zora Neale Hurston dialects than reading them. I still wonder how students would do... Would they give up and then how would I reengage them?

APHG Note - Great introduction to triangle trade in a more meaningful way

[Christine Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is meaningful, important and moving. I'm so glad it has been adapted for young readers (and that that brought it to my attention!). I do think that some children will find the ebonics too difficult to follow. I struggled with a bit as adult. I appreciate the reasoning for the way it was written and it does add some value, but I think will also create a barrier for some young readers.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this is an adaptation of Hurston's work, it's easy to read. It has all her usual flow of a captured story, with fewer words and I'm sure some of the harder details removed even though this is still not an easy story. It's a story of being brought to the US and being enslaved there, then freed and then still struggling. This is so many people's stories. I'm glad there is another true one out there that people can read, especially kids who do need to know even when things are hard.

[Erin *BookDragon_Library* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is an incredibly important books for kids to read. There are few 1st hand stories from slaves who were brought to the US. I like how Hurston’s voice is captured in her narration of bringing gifts in exchange for stories and her narration of how she the interviews played out. I do wonder if kids will have a difficult time with the Ebonics even though I think it is crucial to capture the voice. It gave me the same feeling as reading old English ok Shakespeare.