Crossing Ebenezer Creek

by Tonya Bolden

Overview

When Mariah and her young brother Zeke are suddenly freed from slavery, they join Sherman's march through Georgia. Mariah wants to believe that the brutalities of slavery are behind them, but even as hope glimmers, there are many hardships yet to come. When she meets a free black named Caleb, Mariah dreams in a way she never dared . . . of a future worth living and the possibility of true love. But even hope comes at a cost, and as the difficult march continues toward the churning waters of Ebenezer Creek, Mariah's dreams are as vulnerable as ever.

In this powerful exploration of a little-known tragedy perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys, readers will never forget the souls of Ebenezer Creek.

A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017, Young Adult

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681196992
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/29/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	373,491
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tonya Bolden is a critically acclaimed award-winning author/co-author/editor of more than two dozen books for young people. They include Finding Family which received two starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, a Coretta Scott King honor book and James Madison Book Award winner; MLK: Journey of a King, winner of a National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children; Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty, an ALSC Notable Children's Book, CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, and winner of the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Middle Level Book Award. Tonya also received the Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC's Nonfiction Award. A Princeton University magna cum laude baccalaureate with a master's degree from Columbia University, Tonya lives in New York City.
www.tonyaboldenbooks.com

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/13/2017
Since the start of the Civil War, Mariah has dreamed of a Yankee victory that will grant her and her fellow enslaved men, women, and children their freedom. After Union soldiers show up to loot her Georgia plantation in November 1864, she, her younger brother Zeke, and many others join the 14th Army Corps of the left wing of General Sherman’s army as it marches through Georgia. When a kind black man named Caleb invites her and Zeke to ride in his wagon, Mariah—generous hearted herself—accepts, bringing along a traumatized woman who cannot care for herself. The attraction between Caleb and Mariah is allowed to grow slowly and quietly, expressed only in each one’s thoughts, over 12 days on the march. Readers learn, along with Mariah, about the war through Caleb’s stories; the close-knit ties among the formerly enslaved members of the company are depicted through their experiences on the march, while the trials of their daily lives are revealed through Mariah’s mostly silent memories. Bolden (Capital Days) bravely concludes this concise, moving story with a historically accurate and horrifying ending. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Lyons Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Poetic in tone and savage in its depictions of the tortures slaves endured, Crossing Ebenezer Creek grants dignity and depth to its characters and considers the difficult and vulnerable position of African Americans as they adapted to freedom among whites who did not always view them as human beings. Readers will fall in love with Bolden's gentle lyricism as she unflinchingly unfolds a difficult story." - starred review, Shelf Awareness

"Bolden . . . bravely concludes this concise, moving story with a historically accurate and horrifying ending." - starred review, Publishers Weekly

"The well-executed premise, a compelling love story, and unique historical details will appeal to fans of Ruta Sepetys’s Salt to the Sea . . . This moving and engrossing portrayal of a little-known historical tragedy belongs on all YA shelves." - starred review, School Library Journal

"Mariah and Caleb's unforgettable story is everything historical fiction should be: informative, engrossing, and unflinching . . . . A poetic, raw, and extraordinary imagining of a little-known, shameful chapter in American history." - starred review, Kirkus Reviews

"With keen insight, Bolden mines a lesser-known historical event and brings the human cost vividly to life . . . Bolden’s trenchant, powerful novel is a strong testament to the many lost lives that certainly did—and still do—matter." - starred review, Booklist

"Mariah and Caleb’s . . . heartbreaking fate will elicit equal parts outrage and sorrow." - BCCB

"Bolden's powerful story pulls the reader into the hearts and minds of Mariah and Caleb, pursuing a life together in the midst of the turmoil and anguish of slavery and the Civil War." - Joyce Hansen, Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author of WHICH WAY FREEDOM

"I learned more from this one novel—about love, the true meaning of family, tenacity, loss, history and hope—than from any book I’ve read in a long while. Generations will know this story." - Sharon G. Flake, Coretta Scott King winner; author of THE SKIN I'M IN and UNSTOPPABLE OCTOBIA MAY

"Breathtaking. . . . Bolden fleshes out a small, harrowing historical betrayal, weaving an unforgettable story and capturing both the frailty and resilience of hope." - The Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2017
Gr 7 Up—In 1864, teenager Mariah and the other African Americans living in slavery on her plantation are freed by Union forces and encouraged to begin following General Sherman's march through Georgia. Caleb assists Mariah as she prepares to join the march. Caleb and Mariah are immediately attracted to each other but are hesitant to express their feelings, so their relationship evolves slowly. Their pasts make trusting people difficult, and their presents make clear that freedom solves many problems but doesn't erase racism. As the march nears Savannah, travel becomes difficult and some of the Union officers start seeing those following their march as a liability. The resulting tragedy at Ebenezer Creek has largely been forgotten but is retold here as a powerful message to present-day readers. The refrain "colored lives don't matter" creates resonance with current events. This phrase is backed up by discussion of overt violence against the African American characters (including rape). The author is known primarily as a writer of nonfiction, and her skills as a researcher enhance a subject for which there is limited source material. The well-executed premise, a compelling love story, and unique historical details will appeal to fans of Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea. VERDICT This moving and engrossing portrayal of a little-known historical tragedy belongs on all YA shelves.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

School Library Journal

★ 2017-02-04
A newly emancipated young woman finds love and tragedy as she marches to freedom during the Civil WarWhen Union soldiers suddenly arrive declaring emancipation, Mariah quickly gathers a few belongings and sets off with her younger brother Zeke and members of their chosen family, a "family forced and forged under slavery's brutal reign," as blood relatives were sold, hired out, or killed. On the day Mariah and her loved ones are freed, they join Sherman's march through Georgia, and she meets Caleb, a young man on the march. Mariah and Caleb are drawn to each other, but both are weighed down by the painful secrets from their pasts. As the freed men, women, and children travel closer to the promise of a new life, they face the harsh realities of the march—and the uncertainty. Mariah and Caleb's unforgettable story is everything historical fiction should be: informative, engrossing, and unflinching. In recounting the vicious treatment Mariah and others endured while enslaved, Bolden exposes the savagery of slavery. The resiliency and ingenuity of enslaved people in the face of such cruelty are also conveyed in heart-rending detail. Some readers may be shocked by the violence and exploitation formerly enslaved people also experienced at the hands of the Union soldiers charged with freeing them. A poetic, raw, and extraordinary imagining of a little-known, shameful chapter in American history. (Historical fiction. 13-adult)

Kirkus Reviews