Elijah of Buxton

Curtis, Christopher Paul. (2007). Elijah of Buxton. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Elijah of Buxton is a book set during the Pre-Emancipation Proclamation era where slavery was still what the United States thought of as acceptable. Written in a first person point of view with a heavy southern dialect, this African-American Literature book is bound to hold the reader's attention from beginning to end.

Elijah is the first freeborn baby born in the settlement of Buxton in Canada. Being born free and not understanding everything that it means to be a slave, Elijah finds himself in the face of conflict at times because of his lack of knowledge. Elijah's mother and others see him has a fra-gile boy who is afraid of just about anything. Being young and not knowing any other life outside of Buxton Elijah is at times a naive boy which also gets him into some trouble. As the story goes on Elijah finds himself making brave decisions that help other people than just himself and those that he knows, making him not so fra-gile as it seemed.

The story being told in first person through Elijah's eyes is one reason that it is so appealing to the reader. As we read we get to see Elijah, with his heavy dialect that has been passed down from some of the adults on the settlement, and his thoughts, feelings and humor. There are points in the book that you can't help but to laugh out loud because of the way he tells that he experienced it; such as the pulling of the snake from the cookie jar. When Elijah is faced with situations that he knows is wrong but has a desire to do them anyway, you can't help but to empathize with him because we all go through that. I can see how so many young readers would love this book because of the similar humor that they may have with Elijah and the powerful connection that you make with him because of similarities.

As the plot progresses you get to learn a little more about Elijah and the other people within the settlement of Buxton including: Cooter, Mr. Leroy, The Preacher and many others. At the beginning of the book Elijah flashes back to tell us about "scar" that he is going to have with him the rest of his life--throwing up on THE Fredrick Douglass! Though Elijah was merely an infant at this time it is something that he cannot seem to get over and feels goes along with his fra-gileness. The suspense in the book is what kept me reading the most. The book starts of with Elijah and Cooter finding an animal trail that they have never seen before; they come across the Reverend and he tells them of the hoop snake that the freed slaves have brought with them. As I was reading I could feel worry building up through Elijah's emotions but I just wanted to laugh at how naive he was. The suspense continues throughout the entire book, with the preacher putting Elijah is sticky situations and wondering whether Elijah is going to come back to help the runaway slave family escape to freedom.

Coming of age is a big theme in this chapter book. Elijah is a young boy who describes himself as being ten months from twelve; he is clearly much younger than he wants to see himself as being. The thing that Elijah seems to want to understand the most is "the secret language of being growned up". From hiding in the closet when slave catchers were spotted, to realizing that the "Right Reverend" wasn't exactly the most honest man as one would think a preacher should be, to helping slaves cross the border into freedom, Elijah is faced with tribulations that help him grow up a little at time.

Big Question:

Do you every wish that you were "growned" up? What are things that you wish you could do that grownups are allowed to do. What are some things that you do that you think grownups wish they could still do?