Newbery Medal Winner
The Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
Summary
In 1840s New Orleans, a poor boy named Jessie Bollier is kidnapped and forced aboard a slave ship, where his job is to play his fife so the captive Africans will dance and stay fit for sale. Witnessing the brutality of the Atlantic slave trade firsthand, Jessie is changed forever by the cruelty and suffering he is made to serve. Fox delivers an unflinching historical novel that confronts the moral horror of slavery through the eyes of an unwilling participant.
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Historical Context & Significance
The win drew controversy over a white author's depiction of enslaved people, even as critics praised the historical rigor of Fox's research into the illegal slave trade.