The Other Side of Free

September 15, 2013
Russell illuminates a little-known piece of American history in this well-researched novel for middle-grade readers. When Aunt Winnie--not a blood relation but the only family Jem has ever known--sends him away from Charles Town with a strange conjure-woman named Phaedra, the 13-year-old is confused and resentful. It's 1739; Florida is held by England's sworn enemy Spain. The Spanish governor at St. Augustine offers freedom, support and baptism into the Catholic faith to any escaped slave who vows to fight the English, but Phaedra insists Jem is too young to join the militia or take a vow. Instead, he spends his days running errands for Phaedra in the forests and marshlands around Fort Mose, an earthwork fort built and staffed by the ex-slave militia, wishing for more manly duties. Recent escapees bring news of a violent slave rebellion along the Stono River; the English blame the Spanish and declare war. The unfamiliar but engrossing topic and fast-paced action will keep readers interested. Phaedra and other members of the colony are well-drawn, but Jem's characterization wobbles; his resentment, coming as it does after his rescue from near-certain death at the hands of his master, seems ill-placed. Still, a welcome and well-written work of history. (Historical fiction. 9-14)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-A stern, exacting woman named Phaedra fosters 13-year-old Jem in Fort Mose, a Spanish enclave for escaped slaves in 18th- century Florida. In exchange for the protection of the Spanish government, the adult inhabitants of Fort Mose pledge to abandon traditional modes of belief and convert to Catholicism. The men must also join a militia to defend the neighboring settlement against the English. Their military commitment takes on terrifying import following the 1739 Stono slave rebellion. Exasperatingly positioned between childhood and maturity, Jem aches to evade Phaedra's belittling supervision and take up arms, but he fails to prove his intelligence and trustworthiness to the community leaders. Russell layers period and cultural details with a historian's enthusiasm, populating the story with Native American communities, Spanish colonists, Fort Mose refugees, and a French trader. Mining such rich and little-known material offers inherent value to library shelves and school curricula but Russell possibly attempts to pack too much into one book, including several minor mysteries and Jem's devoted rearing of a injured owlet. Though the characterization of Jem wobbles according to the dictates of subplots, the secondary figures retain more solidity; Phaedra in particular evinces an acerbic charm. When the British lay siege to the Spanish holdings, Russell successfully elevates the tension and sheds light on this fascinating moment in history. Readers will be immersed in the suspenseful intrigue and Jem's battle for freedom.-Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2013
Grades 5-8 In 1739, Aunt Winnie turns young Jem over to a strange woman, Phaedra, who has a glowering temper. Winnie wants to send her young charge away from his slave existence in Charles Town and off to Fort Mose in St. Augustine, a settlement where slaves are promised their freedom if they support the Spanish against the English. Phaedra, however, turns out to be more tyrant than ally, and is it really freedom when the Spanish control your every move? Russell pens a moving portrayal of a young teen yearning for a chance to be a hero. When Jem rescues a baby owl to raise, the owl's well-being becomes his central purpose as both bird and boy begin to reach beyond confinement. A suspenseful, action-packed second half serves the story well and explains the mystery of Phaedra's bitterness. Take a rather anthropomorphized owl, a setting richly suffused with folklore, and a daring plot, and the result is a unique historical adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
In late-eighteenth-century Spanish Florida, colonial slaves who will help fight the English are promised freedom. Longing to join the militia, thirteen-year-old Jem resents his caregiver, sharp-tongued Phaedra, who helped enable his escape but now babies him. Some of the subplots are neglected, but the relationship between Jem and Phaedra is believable and the unique historical setting is nicely drawn. Bib.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)