77.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesThe Bookworm: 'Sugar' Goes Beyond the Dates and Facts of History

The Bookworm: 'Sugar' Goes Beyond the Dates and Facts of History

“Sugar” by Jewell Parker Rhodes
c.2013, Little, Brown and Company $16.99 279 pages

So much has happened since you started school last fall. You’ve made new friends, first of all. You’ve learned new things, both in class and out. Maybe you’ve grown a couple inches, found a new talent, dreamed big or mastered something challenging.

A lot can happen in a year, especially when everything else changes too. In the book “Sugar” by Jewell Parker Rhodes, it happens even faster with history behind it to push.
More than anything, Sugar hated sugar.

It bit her face and fingers at harvest time and made them bleed. Cutting left blisters on her hands. Sugar cane got in her hair and there was no escaping the smell of it. When Missus Beale made a meal with sugar, it turned Sugar’s stomach.

Sugar was sure there had to be a reason why Ma named her after that crop but there was no way of knowing, since Ma had died.

Much as she hated it, though, working with sugarcane was all that 10-year-old Sugar had ever known. She was born on River Road Plantation and that’s where she stayed – even though the end of the Civil War meant she could go anywhere.

She stayed because her freedom meant that her Pa was also free. She hoped he’d return to River Road.

In the meantime, Mister and Missus Beale took care of Sugar. Mister Beale told her stories of Br’er Rabbit, and he said he liked her “spunk.” Missus Beale tried to keep Sugar busy, but Sugar often wondered why she couldn’t play with Billy Wills, her friend and the son of River Road’s owner.

But that wouldn’t happen easily: her friendship with Billy worried Missus Beale. What’s more, everybody on River Road was concerned about the fact that Mister Wills was bringing “Chinamen” to the plantation to work. He’d decided that a handful of elderly ex-slaves couldn’t handle the harvest anymore – which might’ve meant that everyone would lose their jobs, although Sugar wasn’t sure if that was really true.

The Chinese seemed nice. They were eager to teach her about their culture and to learn hers. Still, with all the changes at River Road, wasn’t it better to convince the Beales that it was time to head North?

Without a doubt, your child has already learned something about the Civil War. She’s aware of what happened then – but what about what happened afterward?

“Sugar” tells some of the tale.

In her notes, author Jewell Parker Rhodes explains what she discovered and how she initially intended to write an adult book about the post-War years, until she envisioned a little girl who just wanted to be a kid.

Young readers will be glad she did: despite the uncertainty she feels about the changes that occurred, Sugar manages to keep a watchful, self-aware innocence mixed with joy.

That brings this story beyond the dates and facts of history, and gives it a kid-friendly sense your 8- to-12-year-old will like. As an end-of-school read, in fact, or to keep her occupied this summer, “Sugar” is a book she’ll fall for.
__
The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 12,000 books. Her self-syndicated book reviews appear in more than 260 newspapers.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.