Title: Nightjohn Author: Gary Paulsen Average number of words per page: more than 100 STORY: 14 readers have rated this story. Average story rating: 8/10.0 ILLUSTRATIONS: 14 readers have rated the illustrations. Average illustration rating: 5.5/10.0

Purchase this book from Amazon View larger image Review the book cover art

Book review by: Kristin age: 14 Review submitted on 04/27/2005 at 12:05:04 list all 14 reviews for this book

Story Rating 10.0 out of a possible 10.0

Kristin writes the following about Nightjohn :

Would you like to be owned by another human? One who tells you to do something, and you better do it or you'll get punished! Where it is against the law to learn to read and write. Those are just a few things that happen to slaves in the book Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen. Sarny, a young slave girl, likes to listen and learn about anything. So when a new slave named John comes to the plantation, she wants to learn more. Just because Sarny is a slave, that doesn't mean it's going to stop her from trying to learn about things. Sarny's master thinks she is quiet and dumb, but that's far from the truth. She's quiet because she is always listening and watching what's going on around her. Sarny is far from being dumb. By listening and watching, she learns way more than her master thinks. I think that is very smart if a slave seems to act dumb, but really isn't! When the new slave, John, says he will teach her letters for tobacco she agrees instantly. Every new letter she learns she studies by always thinking about it. I thought it was cool to always think of her letters even though she only knew a couple of them. What I thought made the book interesting was when she learn her first word and got carried away. Then her master found out she was learning letters and words, so he decided to punish the person who he thought was teaching her letters and words. Sarny then had to make sure she kept the letters and words she learned to herself because of the punishment. I thought this part of the book was interesting because it showed how Sarny felt and how she got through it. Throughout the book, it showed what Sarny and the other slaves went through, during the time of slavery. The book showed how they were treated and what they could and couldn't do. It showed how Sarny stayed strong and still learned, even though it was against the law. She still listened and learned about things even though her master disliked it. That is why I liked this book, because it showed me how the slaves stayed strong even though they were badly treated.

recommend this review to a friend Christian book reviews