In March we are reading and discussing books with a SLAVERY theme.

The winners of the Unheard Voices giveaway are:

• Helen Webber
• Megan Horner
• Stella Thebridge
• Sarah Killeen
• Fiona Crawford
  

We continue the reading group with a thematic approach to allow for individual reading preferences and the availability of books in your areas. Please don't feel restricted by the recommended titles.

RECOMMENDED READING:

 Malorie Blackman Unheard Voices Random House An anthology of short stories and poems collected by Malorie Blackman to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. Publishing 15th February 2007.

James Riordan Rebel Cargo Frances Lincoln

Abena is a rebellious Ashanti girl sold into slavery on the notorious Transatlantic route from West Africa to Jamaica. Mungo is an English orphan who becomes a cabin boy, only to be kidnapped and sold as a white slave. Fate brings the two together and Mungo, risking life and limb, saves Abena from a terrible death. Together they escape and set out towards the Blue Mountains - where rumours tell of a stronghold of runaway slaves ruled by a legendary leader called Nanny. But can Abena and Mungo slip through the hordes of Redcoats and baying bloodhounds sent to drag them back...? Based on historical events, the novel unflinchingly describes the conditions of black and also white slavery in the 18th century, when profits took precedence over human life. Publishing 1st March 2007.

Julia Golding Cat Among the Pigeons Egmont The sequel to The Diamond of Drury Lane sees Cat storm a gentleman's club, jump aboard a slave ship and enter the heart of the shadiest part of London - blindfolded! As the book opens, we discover that Pedro's slave master has come over from the West Indies to track the boy down and drag him back into slavery. Cat obviously decides she is not going to let that happen, but hereby makes herself another enemy. Soon, she finds she has the police on her tail...Cat is driven to flee the theatre and ends up going into hiding, passing herself off as a boy at Westminister school. Then Billy Shepherd turns up...

Julia Bell Dirty Work Macmillan Hope's mum doesn't get her. In fact, Hope knows that as far as her preoccupied parents are concerned, she's hopeless. She may be spoilt - but money doesn't buy happiness. Oksana doesn't even have a mum. And her dad and brother are miles away, left behind in Russia. She thought Europe would offer a better life - instead, bought and sold into prostitution, she feels dirty and used. Then, Oksana and Hope are thrown together in the most terrifying circumstances imaginable. Their only real chance of escape lies with each other, but how do two teenagers with so little in common find the way...?

 M T Anderson The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Walker Books Boston, 1775 - raised by a society of rational philosophers, who call each other by a number, Octavian and his mother - a princess in exile from a faraway land - are the only people in their household assigned names. The boy is dressed in silks and white wigs and given the finest classical education; but as his regal mother, Cassiopeia, entertains the scholars with her beauty and wit, young Octavian begins to question the purpose behind his guardians' fanatical studies. Only after he dares to open a forbidden door does he learn the hideous nature of their experiments - and his own chilling role in them.

Celia Rees Pirates (Bloomsbury)  When two young women meet under extraordinary circumstances in eighteenth century West Indies they are unified in their desire to escape their oppressive lives. The first is a slave, forced to work in a plantation mansion and subjected to terrible cruelty at the hands of the plantation manager. The second is a spirited and rebellious English girl, sent to the West Indies to marry well and combine the wealth of two respectable families. But Fate ensures that one night the two young women have to save each other and run away to a life no less dangerous but certainly a lot more free. As pirates they roam the seas, fight pitched battles against their foes and become embroiled in many a heart-quickening adventure. Written in brilliant and sparkling first-person narrative, this is a wonderful novel in which Celia Rees has brought the past vividly and intimately to life.

We welcome comments and observations on any of the recommended books but contributions can also refer to any other book published on this theme; to childhood reading memories; lesson suggestions; and to responses from students/children.

 In addition to  the suggested list of recent titles, you may want to read some more established books such as: Katherine Paterson's Jip, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Mark Twain's Hucklebery Finn, Joel Chandler Harris' Tales from Uncle Remus, Rosemary Sutcliff The Mark of the Horse Lord, Anna Grifalconi The Village That Vanished, Gary Paulsen Nightjohn, Paula Fox The Slave Dancer.

Views on adult books on this subject such as Stephen Tomkins William Wilberforce and Richard Reddie Abolition are also welcome.

We are keen to hear from teachers and students who have worked on this theme. Tell us about the books that you found useful to support your teaching.

Thank you to Dulcie Pettigrew for the following suggestions:

• Hero by Catherine Johnson Oxford University Press
• Chains by Frances Mary Hendry Oxford University Press.