Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books. by Gary Paulsen
References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in
English (1) Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0440219361,
Paperback)Imagine being beaten for learning to read, shackled
and whipped for learning a few letters of the alphabet. Now,
imagine a man brave enough to risk torture in order to teach
others how to read; his name is Nightjohn, and he sneaks into
the slave camps at night to teach other slaves how to read and
write. Celebrated author Gary Paulsen writes a searing
meditation on why the ability to read and write is radical,
empowering , and so necessary to our freedom. These skills
threaten our oppressors because they allow us to communicate--to
learn the real status of our slavery and to seek liberation. In
this tightly written, painful, joyous little novel is a key that
may unlock the power of reading for even the most reluctant
teens. (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:30:08 -0500)
Twelve-year-old Sarny's brutal life as a slav