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erine's review against another edition
4.0
A reminder in the form of a picture book story that the traditional pioneer narrative is incomplete. This story relates a Black sharecropper family who, through hard work and luck, find their way to Kansas to earn themselves a farm. There is a short essay of backmatter and a single additional resource.
One more step toward a more complete understanding of history.
One more step toward a more complete understanding of history.
heisereads's review against another edition
I appreciate the perspective this is sharing (that I didn't know) about these Exodusters towns of former slaves/sharecroppers. However, I'm wondering how accurate the representation of the Native American perspective is. It's not fully clear from the author's note how authentic it truly is.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
4.0
A very solid look at an important time and place in history.
missyp's review against another edition
3.0
One of my favorite picture books is I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas, which tells the story of an African-American woman who strikes out to homestead in Oklahoma. It is a lovely, lyrical story.
Follow Me Down to Nicodemus Town provides a more detailed account of a similar story. Young Dede relates her family’s journey from working as sharecroppers to becoming landowners. It’s a nearly impossible goal, with endless toil to raise enough money to pay off their “debt” to the landowner. The sharecropping system was designed to essentially enslave the workers; paying off their debt was nearly impossible. But through an act of happenstance, the family’s dream – of working as hard as ever, but on their own land – comes true.
The remainder of the book tells of the family’s effort to survive on the land, supported by the kindnesses of a Native American man and other nearby homesteading families. Author LaFaye gives a name to the Native American and explains that he is of the Ni-U-Kan-Ska people, who “white folks call…the Osage.”
After the book ends with a hopeful feeling, the author provides an end note with more information about the sharecropping system, the forced removal of the Native Americans of the Great Plains, and the communities of African-American pioneers. Nicodemus is a real place and was designated as a National Historic Site in 1995.
Follow Me Down to Nicodemus Town provides a more detailed account of a similar story. Young Dede relates her family’s journey from working as sharecroppers to becoming landowners. It’s a nearly impossible goal, with endless toil to raise enough money to pay off their “debt” to the landowner. The sharecropping system was designed to essentially enslave the workers; paying off their debt was nearly impossible. But through an act of happenstance, the family’s dream – of working as hard as ever, but on their own land – comes true.
The remainder of the book tells of the family’s effort to survive on the land, supported by the kindnesses of a Native American man and other nearby homesteading families. Author LaFaye gives a name to the Native American and explains that he is of the Ni-U-Kan-Ska people, who “white folks call…the Osage.”
After the book ends with a hopeful feeling, the author provides an end note with more information about the sharecropping system, the forced removal of the Native Americans of the Great Plains, and the communities of African-American pioneers. Nicodemus is a real place and was designated as a National Historic Site in 1995.
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