School Library Journal Starred Review (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 4-8 The events surrounding the abduction, mutiny, and legal trials of the Amistad Africans have been retold in a number of books, but few are told from the point of view of the children on the ship. In this novel based on the experiences of a real person, nine-year-old Magulu sails for seven weeks to Cuba on a slave ship. After being sold, she boards the Amistad . A rebellion leads to fighting and eventual jail time and several trials. Now 12 years old, she and the other children are finally declared free and allowed to return home. How she earns her passage and an education are part of this remarkable story of resilience, faith, and hope. Byrd's ink and watercolor illustrations show lush green areas of West Africa; as Magulu travels, the colors darken until she is returned to Africa. Highly detailed illustrations contrast life and dress in Africa with those in Cuba and Connecticut. The maps and recurring dream scenes are lovely and intriguing. Interspersed throughout the book are primary-image sources. Edinger gives Magulu a voice of her own as she narrates her story. The child's character is fleshed out as readers watch her grow from age nine when she is pawned during a drought to adulthood when she becomes a teacher in her beloved homeland. With more than 40 stunning illustrations, this unique narrative should find an appreciative audience.— Glynis Jean Wray, Ocean County Library, Toms River, NJ

ALA Booklist (Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

This fictionalized version of a true account gives readers a look into a neglected piece of history: the story of the Amistad told from a child's point of view. We are introduced to 9-year-old Magulu, who is sold into slavery and ends up a passenger on the slave ship Amistad. After a mutiny, Magulu finds herself in New England with three other child passengers, where their freedom is fought over all the way to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Magulu spends time going to school, learning English, and meeting supporters who fight for her right to return to Africa. Edinger fills her novel with facts, research, and rich historical details. The storybooklike narrative of a child torn between two worlds is captivating, and Byrd's finely lined color illustrations add to the story, as do reproductions of historical documents. An author's note gives readers additional information and the inspiration as to where Edinger found her source material.

Kirkus Reviews (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

In this text-heavy picture book, Edinger fictionalizes the story of Margru, a child whom slave traders transported in 1839 from Mendeland, West Africa, to Cuba and then to the United States on the Spanish slave ship the Amistad. Margru's father pawns his daughter at 9 in exchange for rice. When he is unable to redeem her, she is sold off to traders and forced to endure the Middle Passage. The child narrator effectively conveys her confusion at being treated savagely by people whose language and intentions she does not understand, as well as the meager comfort she finds in her two friends, Kagne and Teme, who are purchased along with her in Cuba. Throughout the story, Margru's dreams of home appear within round frames, thick with the flora and fauna of Africa. Edinger and Byrd punctuate the story with reproductions and snippets from archives, newspaper clippings, maps, letters and engravings--all of which reinforce its authenticity. While this book makes an important part of history accessible to child readers, it is not without flaws. Its illustrations are frequently cramped and offer minimal variety in the characters' skin tones and facial features. The narrative occasionally skips weeks or months without alerting readers, making parts of the story befuddling. Nevertheless, this book gives middle-grade readers a starting point for understanding this landmark episode in American history, in which slaves fought through the court system and won. (author's note, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In her first book for children, Edinger fuses fact and fiction, despair and hope in the story of a nine-year-old girl taken from her Sierra Leona homeland. After being sold to slave traders, Margru is banished to the -dark and airless- hold of a ship bound for Cuba, represented by a stark, all-black spread: -Seven weeks of chains and shackles. Seven weeks of sobs and cries.- In Havana, a white man buys Margru and three other children, and they are forced onto the Amistad. Margru provides an immediate account of the infamous slave mutiny onboard and the perpetrators- imprisonment and trials in Connecticut; the Africans are eventually freed and sent home, where Margru later becomes a teacher. Margru-s descriptions of the strangeness of life in America and her homesickness for Sierra Leona are incisive and heartbreaking. Meticulously incorporated throughout the book-s design, along with reproductions of archival materials, Byrd-s (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!) folk art-style ink-and-watercolor illustrations vividly capture the landscapes and people of West Africa, Cuba, and the U.S. Ages 10-up. Author-s agent: Stephen Barbara, Foundry Literary + Media. (Oct.)