Run Away Home by Patricia C. McKissack

Reviewed by Keri

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Newbery Honor Winner

Ratings Explanation

Language:  The word nigger is used twice by members of the Knights of the Southern Order of Manhood.  A group of captured Apache Indians are called the “meanest bunch of cut-throats ever walked on two feet.”

Violence:  Mention of violent acts against the black population by members of white supremacy groups, such as burning businesses and schools,  destroying property and lynching.  A local white supremacy group throws torches into Sarah Jane’s home.  Her father threatens to shoot anyone that means harm to the family or property even though he had no ammunition in the gun.  Sky defends the property by scaring the group off with well aimed arrows.  One arrow does hit a man in the leg.  Buster, Sarah Jane’s dog,  is shot by one of the group members in the struggle and dies.  Sky is attacked in a store by two large men.  He skillfully defends himself, ending up with a knife and threatens to scalp one of the attackers.

Adult Themes:  Native Americans are shipped by train from Florida to a reservation. Mention is made of their suffering at the hand of the white man.  Sarah Jane’s father briefly remembers hard times during slavery.  The black population of their town are looked down upon and treated unequally in spite of the end of slavery.  Black citizens are threatened, and some beaten, if they choose the exercise their right to vote.  Segregation is carried out in businesses and schools.

Synopsis

Sarah Jane and her parents lived in a small Alabama town in 1888.  One day, she and her father noticed an unexpected train full of soldiers escorting a group of Apache Indians.  They were on their way to a reservation after being held in Florida for the past two years.  While her father was speaking with some of the guards, Sarah sees a young Indian boy escape.  She decides to say nothing of what she saw because she feels that everyone has the right to be free.  A few days afterward, the Apache’s translator, Mr. Wratton, comes to the farm in search of the missing boy and leaves empty handed.  Sarah later finds the Indian boy, Sky, hiding in their barn, suffering severely from swamp fever.  Her mother takes him to the house and she and Sarah nurse him back to health.  Mr. Wratten learns that the boy has been found and decides to let Sarah’s family care for him until his health returns.  Sky’s recovery is slow but he learns to respect the family that has helped him so much.

Tragedy strikes when the family’s cotton crop becomes infested with boll weevil.  They are unable to pay their debt to the white man that threatens to take over their farm.  Sarah finds a carpentry job for her father, who is a skilled craftsman, making desks for an all black school.  The debt collector gives them thirty days to pay before he takes over the farm.  A few nights later, the Knights of the Southern Order of Manhood threaten to destroy Sarah’s home and all of the wood to make the desks.  Sky helps to defend his new family by scaring the group off with arrows.  The time to pay off the debt was  quickly approaching, but workers were now scared for their lives and no one came to help with the desks.  Sky mysteriously dissapears for a few days and brings back  Mr. Wratten, along with several Apache Indians, to help finish the project.  Through this group effort the job was finished on time and the farm was saved.  Sky decides to stay with his new family and hope is restored to Sarah Jane’s family.

McKissack bases this story on  her own family history.  Her great-great-great grandfather was a Native American who married an African American woman.  I found the mix of these cultures fascinating.  Both races had suffered so much from prejudiced thinking and fought so hard to stay free.  I enjoyed having this story told through the point of view of a child. It was interesting to see her perspective as the nation was trying to redefine itself.  Because the difficult topics of this book were handled truthfully yet tactfully, I highly recommend it to young readers wishing to more fully understand this difficult time in our nation’s history.

©2009 The Literate Mother