The Curse of the Buttons

The Curse of the Buttons by Anne Ylvisaker (Walker Books)

HC RRP $19.95

ISBN 9780763661380

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

This third book in the Button family saga is a prequel to the Civil War. It’s a wonderful adventure story for the 8+ age group. Having enjoyed the themes, storyline and characters in The Luck of the Buttons, I was thrilled to get my hands on this one.

News comes with the steamboat about the onset of the War Between the States. The setting is Keokuk, Iowa 1861. We see Ike as an eleven-year-old boy whose brothers and other male relatives join the army. He is desolate at being left behind with all the women. From the moment of the men’s departure, he is consumed with the idea of finding a way to join them as a drummer boy.

Albirdie is Ike’s best friend. The daughter of the town’s pastor, she is level-headed, intelligent and supports her father’s view on the abolition of slavery. Although Iowa is a free state, aiding or harbouring slaves is a punishable offence.

The women consolidate their living arrangements with the hope of using Ike’s now empty home as a boarding house. Life is now a constant flurry of activity for all but Ike. He wants to be like his Uncle Palmer, the yard stick that the Button men measure themselves by. But even those on pedestals can have feet of clay.

He continues to scheme and dream of taking part in the war. He hatches a plan but needs help to execute it. He turns to two untrustworthy tricksters who know how to get things. They demand all but give nothing in return. Gypped and humiliated, Ike is unprepared for the change of plans life maps out for him.

Ike’s conscience is tested by his discovery of the runaway slave Mary, and her two sons. Drawn into a plan by Albirdie, her father, and Mr Jenkins to secret the slaves to a safe place means the boy is temporarily distracted from his obsession. But he’s fully aware that the bounty hunters searching for the runaways have no conscience or scruples when it comes to punishing people who get in the way of their reward. Here the women rally together again, to see justice and equality rule.

Fictional characters have been built into factual historical events pertaining to the American Civil War. This excellent novel with themes of friendship and loyalty, human equality and justice, has a strong sense of place and outstanding characters, particularly that of Albirdie. I saw more about her by what was left unsaid, than about Ike who was the more active, leading character.

The author’s note gives an overview of the history and research used to create this book. She encourages readers interested in that subject and era, to look further as she did, and discover more information on slaves, which is how she came to write this book.

Come August, Come Freedom

Come August, Come Freedom by Gigi Amateau (Candlewick/Walker Books)

PB RRP $17.95

ISBN 9780763668709

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Gigi Amateau has created an outstanding historical factional novel on the African American slaves of the mid to late 1700s. The main character Gabriel was a real person, and it is around his life that the story is built.

Gabriel is born on the Brookfield plantation and belongs to Thomas Prosser along with his two brothers and parents. He is educated with Prosser’s son, Thomas Henry, and grows into an intelligent person who looks and acts much older than his years.

After Gabriel’s father is taken away never to return, Gabriel and his brother Solomon are sent to the smithy to learn and take over their father’s trade. It is while in Richmond, that his mind further expands when he witnesses further unrelenting injustices of white landowners against the working slaves.

He dreams of becoming like Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the Saint Domingue rebellion, known as the black general, which saw the slaves revolt and gain freedom. This is what Gabriel wanted for his people above all else. It was toward this end that plans were made for that dream to come true in October 1800.

Woven into the historical events is a powerful love story between Gabriel and Nan, the slave girl he loved from childhood. His other longing was to purchase her freedom, so their children could also be born free.

But conspiracy, treachery, and betrayal via promises of reward from people he trusted, tragically end Gabriel’s dream.

These dramatic times in American history are portrayed in lyrical prose with deep spiritual content that reflects the hearts and minds of the slaves of Virginia. Reading about their inhuman treatment and the control by whip of their owners, brought frequent tears to my eyes. But nothing could stop me from continuing.

This is a book of incredible depth and valuable historical content. It will propel the reader to further examine the history of the times and the evolution of the slave trade. It unearths the unshakable faith, strength, courage and determination to gain freedom nurtured by the African American slaves in the face of continued brutality, injustice, suffering and death.

Buffalo Soldier

Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman (Walker Books)

PB RRP $ 16.95

ISBN 9781406314595

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Many things inspire artistic and memorable works like this one. Strange things, personal things, and things we’ve seen, read or experienced. Tanya Landman was mistaken for a boy until the age of fourteen. She was also inspired by the real life of the slave, Cathy Williams, who disguised herself as a man to become a Buffalo Soldier.

Landman courageously explores the notion of freedom and its complexity; the misuse of absolute power and its corruption, and the blood lust of the war era. She thrusts the history of man’s inhumanity in our faces and says, ‘I dare you to look.’

All the characters in the book regardless of colour, class and position in life, have things in common. Each group has ranks; there are levels of authority in place with orders to be obeyed without the option of choice. This common thread is an important element in the story.

The young slave girl Charlotte becomes Charlie O’Hara to join the army; her only means of survival after being freed. We travel with her from just before the Civil War until the removal of the last Apache from their reservation. This gut-wrenching and desolate content is explosive and heartbreaking. The injustices experienced by slaves and Indians at the hands of soldiers are painful. I had to stop frequently and set the book aside due to the overwhelming sadness that engulfed me.

But these dismal components share the space with a moving love story. Past all the slaughter, ugliness and desolation of war crawls love. Unexpected and uninvited, it surprises Charlie and with its power, and changes the look and feel of everything she’s part of.

This is an outstanding book that will be returned to again because of its superb narrative voice, confronting yet undeniable truths, and strong historical content. A brilliant piece of work based on history, it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Caution: this book contains highly graphic and disturbing scenes.