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Freedom River
In the 1840s, as Florida prepares to become a state, an Indian boy, black slave, and white settler become friends and explore their differences and common bonds.
- GenresFiction
264 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
About the author
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
26 books53 followersMarjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890-May 14, 1998) was an American journalist, writer, feminist, and environmentalist.
She was best known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, Douglas became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines.
Her most influential work was the book, The Everglades: River of Grass, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river, instead of a worthless swamp; its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring.
She was best known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, Douglas became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines.
Her most influential work was the book, The Everglades: River of Grass, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river, instead of a worthless swamp; its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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April 5, 2018The story ends as it begins, with Eben, the escaped slave. Upon reflection, I think this book avoids the worst of White Savior-ism; Eben saves himself and thinks and acts for himself far more than he's saved by Richard or Richard's family.
The book is full of gorgeous details of life in 1840s Florida--you get to hunt a deer in the Everglades, sail a boat, process indigo, and participate in the Green Corn Dance. The older Black women who appear in the story are memorable and powerful.
In making Richard (the White boy) a realistic mix of admirable and unpleasant traits, Douglas leans (in my opinion) too far over into the unpleasant--he's pretty much everything I disliked in little boys (and then older boys) as I was growing up--it was such a relief to learn not all boys are like that. I disliked Richard so much that I wasn't really interested in his growth and change and his EVENTUAL--in the face of necessity--repudiation of the notion of slavery. However, even the time spent in Richard's head was full of vivid experiences that I could enjoy while disliking the person who was showing them to me. I liked Eben much more, and fortunately the story spends a fair amount of time in his head.
I wasn't so keen on what seemed like race/ethnic essentialism--things like "While there are white people in the world they will bring change, to themselves and all men. It is their curse and their power. Seek to be free, child. But seek your own."
All in all, though, it was more nuanced and self-aware than I had expected it would be. I'd recommend it to a middle-grade reader if, like childhood-me, they wanted to experience what life was like among the Seminoles and wanted to be party to adventures they otherwise couldn't have imagined. However, I'd want them to have people available to them to talk over the problematic aspects.
The book is full of gorgeous details of life in 1840s Florida--you get to hunt a deer in the Everglades, sail a boat, process indigo, and participate in the Green Corn Dance. The older Black women who appear in the story are memorable and powerful.
In making Richard (the White boy) a realistic mix of admirable and unpleasant traits, Douglas leans (in my opinion) too far over into the unpleasant--he's pretty much everything I disliked in little boys (and then older boys) as I was growing up--it was such a relief to learn not all boys are like that. I disliked Richard so much that I wasn't really interested in his growth and change and his EVENTUAL--in the face of necessity--repudiation of the notion of slavery. However, even the time spent in Richard's head was full of vivid experiences that I could enjoy while disliking the person who was showing them to me. I liked Eben much more, and fortunately the story spends a fair amount of time in his head.
I wasn't so keen on what seemed like race/ethnic essentialism--things like "While there are white people in the world they will bring change, to themselves and all men. It is their curse and their power. Seek to be free, child. But seek your own."
All in all, though, it was more nuanced and self-aware than I had expected it would be. I'd recommend it to a middle-grade reader if, like childhood-me, they wanted to experience what life was like among the Seminoles and wanted to be party to adventures they otherwise couldn't have imagined. However, I'd want them to have people available to them to talk over the problematic aspects.
June 12, 2024
Very much a product of the time it was written. Uses language we would not today. But worth a read to understand some of the history of Florida as it became a state.
June 29, 2012
Young adult fiction from the esteemed author of "River of Grass", a pivotal book about the Everglades.
The story is a worthy one, set in Florida, before it becomes a State. Its a boyhood and coming of age story about three young men, a european-american child, a first nations child and an escaped african slave. They meet, go on adventures, each has something to teach, all have much to learn. With statehood coming, the three of them conspire to launch the escaped slave in a boat to a nearby British colony, where slavery is already outlawed, and he can grow up free. He's OK as a lone child in a frontier territory, but "civilization" will deprive him of his liberty. That the young native american also has no future in the new State is another dawning reality.
My grandmother gave me this book when I was a kid, and it gripped me and I read and re-read it until it slipped, somehow, from my hands. Years later I bought a copy via Bookfinder.Com, and it started well and went forward strongly, but the 'n'-bombs that I hadn't noticed as a child in the 1960s were a disappointing surprise. Bother!
The story is a worthy one, set in Florida, before it becomes a State. Its a boyhood and coming of age story about three young men, a european-american child, a first nations child and an escaped african slave. They meet, go on adventures, each has something to teach, all have much to learn. With statehood coming, the three of them conspire to launch the escaped slave in a boat to a nearby British colony, where slavery is already outlawed, and he can grow up free. He's OK as a lone child in a frontier territory, but "civilization" will deprive him of his liberty. That the young native american also has no future in the new State is another dawning reality.
My grandmother gave me this book when I was a kid, and it gripped me and I read and re-read it until it slipped, somehow, from my hands. Years later I bought a copy via Bookfinder.Com, and it started well and went forward strongly, but the 'n'-bombs that I hadn't noticed as a child in the 1960s were a disappointing surprise. Bother!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews