Abducted as they are taking a dowry to his soon-to-be wife's parents, 18-year-old Atu and his father are sent by boat from Africa to Jamaica and sold to plantation owners. Separated by just a few miles on neighboring plantations, both men spend horrendous years in captivity, never knowing that the other is so near, and never able to get word to their family in Africa of their enslavement. The author's rich prose gives depth to this unforgettable short account of loss of freedom and family. Honor Book, 1992 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Writing. (Age 14 and older)

In 1807, at the height of the slave trade, Ajeemah and his son, Atu, are snatched by slave traders from their home in Africa while en route to deliver a dowry to Atu's bride-to-be. Ajeemah and Atu are then taken to Jamaica and sold to neighboring plantations'never to see one another again. "Readers will come away with a new sense of respect for those who maintained their dignity and humanity under the cruelest of circumstances."'SLJ. "Each moment here of the Jamaican-born poet's terse, melodious narrative is laden with emotion. . . . Brilliant, complex, powerfully written."––K.

Notable Children's Book of 1993 (ALA)
1993 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1993 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
1992 Books for Youth Editors' Choices (BL)
Notable 1992 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Bulletin Blue Ribbons 1992 (C)

1993 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
Children's Books of 1992 (Library of Congress)
1993 Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award