21 ratings (3.81 avg)
21 reviews

Kyle Loehrke

Add friend

Kyle’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (1)

currently-reading‎ (1)

read‎ (20)

did-not-finish‎ (0)

Stats | More…

Kyle is Currently Reading

Kyle Loehrke is currently reading

To Be a Slave

by Julius Lester

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2018

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Kyle Loehrke said: "
Personal Response
I enjoyed reading the book, To Be a Slave, this quarter. I found it a very interesting book to read. The book was about the slave era in North America. I learned many things from the book including: how slaves were transported, sold,
Personal Response
I enjoyed reading the book, To Be a Slave, this quarter. I found it a very interesting book to read. The book was about the slave era in North America. I learned many things from the book including: how slaves were transported, sold, and punished. I also learned the history behind how slaves came to be and why slavery was abolished. I am very glad I read this book, because I learned a lot about slaves. I also enjoy reading books about history, because I enjoy learning about the past.

Plot
In the beginning of the book, it talked about how the slave trade started. It explained how men from England sailed to Africa. They either attacked the Africans or tricked them into getting on the boat. It explained that the trip to the Americas was very bad and suffocating. Many people died on the voyage, and it was not a good sight. The book then explained what happened when the slaves arrived in America. Slaves were often sold to plantation owners for work through a auction. The slaves were made to look good when really most of them weren’t. Once the slaves were bought, they were marched to their new homes. A lot of them also died during that journey. Once they were on their new plantation, their lives were in the hands of their owners. The book gave many stories about how slaves were punished and whipped when they did wrong.
When owners punished their slaves, they often whipped them. Sometimes they had good reasons to, but most of the time they did not. I felt very sorry for the slaves during that era. When owners wanted to sell a slave, they took them to an auction. They made them look as good as they could. They would then sell them to the highest bidder. Once Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the world for the slaves started looking up. Lincoln led the North in the Civil War against the South. After the North won, it took awhile but the slaves were eventually set free. After reading all of the stories recorded in this book, I have learned so much, and I realized how terrible slaves were treated. Nobody should ever have to experience the events slaves went through.

Characterization
One of the main slaves in the book was a young man. It never said his name. I am not sure if he even had one. He explained how he was taken from Africa and brought to America. He was sold to a very mean owner who beat him often. He changed very much throughout the book. In the beginning, he was living in africa. He was with his family and he was happy. Then he was captured and brought to Virginia to be a slave. He worked very hard in the fields, and he hated his life. His owner often beat him, but he could not defend himself. He often considered suicide, and he tried twice with no success. His life changed so much throughout the book.
Another character who had her life changed throughout the book was a woman with four children. The book told about how she was working on a plantation in the beginning of the book. As she lived there she had four children, but she still had to work. One day she was working in a field when a huge storm came in. Her small babies were on the other end of the field in a hollowed out log. When the storm hit, the lady was on the opposite end of the field, and her babies drowned in the log. Her life changed so much after that and she was heartbroken. She developed into being a character that also hated her owner. Both of the previous characters were once satisfied, until they had major life crisis, which changed their character very much.

Setting
The setting of this book took place mostly in Virginia. In the beginning of the book it took place in Africa where the slaves were captured. After they were captured, the book takes place where there was a lot of slavery in Virginia. The book took place in the 1850’s and 60’s. During this time slaves were being used and the Civil War happened. The setting was very important to the book, because during this time period is when there were the most slaves in Virginia. It is also important because it explains what happened during the Civil War at that time. The place of the book is also very important. Virginia had the largest amount of slaves out of all the states, and it was the head state in the civil war for the south.

Thematic Connection
The biggest theme of this book was to always stand up for what someone believes and what they want to accomplish. All of the slaves were helpless against their owners until after the Civil War. If the slaves had not been against their owners, their wouldn’t have been a Civil War. They always fought to get free, and they always wanted to escape. Because they wanted to get free very badly, they fought in the Civil War against all of the slave owners. Eventually they were set free, and they were very happy.

Recommendation
I recommend this book to any males ages 15-16. This is because, the book teaches a lot about history boys that age should learn. I also believe that girls that age would also enjoy the book, but they may not enjoy it as much as males. Lastly, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading and learning about history. This book tells about many eye opening experiences slaves had. Everyone who would read this book would respect and understand how terrible the slave era was. I enjoyed reading this book very much. I realized many eye opening facts about slavery, and I believe others would too. ...more "

May 22, 2018 09:37AM · see review