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Title details for Box by Carole Boston Weatherford - Available

Box

Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom

by Carole Boston Weatherford
Michele Wood
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
What have I to fear? My master broke every promise to me. I lost my beloved wife and our dear children. All, sold South. Neither my time nor my body is mine. The breath of life is all I have to lose. And bondage is suffocating me. Henry Brown wrote that long before he came to be known as Box; he "entered the world a slave." He was put to work as a child and passed down from one generation to the next—as property. When he was an adult, his wife and children were sold away from him out of spite. Henry Brown watched as his family left bound in chains, headed to the deeper South. What more could be taken from him? But then hope—and help—came in the form of the Underground Railroad. Escape! In stanzas of six lines each, each line representing one side of a box, celebrated poet Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully narrates Henry Brown's story of how he came to send himself in a box from slavery to freedom.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    April 14, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781666550047
      • File size: 17783 KB
      • Duration: 00:37:02

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Dion Graham delivers this narrative poetry with understated passion, giving dignity to Henry Brown's story of escape from slavery by mailing himself to Philadelphia in a box. Graham transports the listener to a painful time and place in our history, blending a Southern accent with Weatherford's hybrid of modern and period language. Graham is soft-spoken yet expressive reciting poems like "Work" and "Brutality." His quiet voice hints at fear of being overheard as soft music plays in the background. In "Fear" and in "Nat," a poem recounting Nat Turner's failed rebellion, Graham's voice intensifies, along with the violin music. Henry's tragic background explains his willingness to attempt a perilous escape. Dramatic music and whispered dialogue give way to joy upon Henry's safe arrival in Philadelphia. Timeline and author/illustrator notes are included. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 27, 2020
      A powerful assortment of colors, textures, and artistic styles illustrate this true story of how Henry “Box” Brown escaped enslavement in 1849 via a harrowing journey inside a sealed crate. “Inside/ One/ Box/ To/ Flee/ Another,” explains one of the more than 50 short poems that comprise this vivid account. Told
      in Brown’s voice, all but one contain six lines: the number of sides in a cube. Weatherford (The Roots of Rap) bases often-lyrical free verse on Brown’s own narrative, excerpted in the opening spread. Detailed stanzas, each beginning with a single descriptive term, touch on the brutality of slavery (“Overseers”); the torment that awaited resisters (“Nat”); Brown’s deep anguish over losing his first wife and children, sold and forever separated from him (“Courage”); and his subsequent life as a free man (“BOX”). His traumatic, stifling two-day journey (“Baggage”) from Virginia to Philadelphia occurs over several claustrophobic spreads. Elaborate mixed-media collages by Wood (Clap Your Hands) employ a box motif, featuring Escher-like cubes alongside folded paper and painted quilt squares. A timeline, notes, and bibliography conclude this rich retelling of Brown’s courageous escape. Ages 10–up. (Apr.)■

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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