Barracoon Adapted for Young Readers, Zora Neale Hurston
Barracoon Adapted for Young Readers, Zora Neale Hurston
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Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers

Author: Zora Neale Hurston, Ibram X. Kendi

Narrator: Robin Miles

Unabridged: 2 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/23/2024

Synopsis

In the first middle grade offering from Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, young readers are introduced to the remarkable and true-life story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Atlantic human trade, in an adaptation of the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Barracoon.This is the life story of Cudjo Lewis, as told by himself.Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America to be enslaved, eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis was then the only person alive to tell the story of his capture and bondage—fifty years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the United States. Cudjo shared his firsthand account with legendary folklorist, anthropologist, and writer Zora Neale Hurston.Adapted with care and delivered with age-appropriate historical context by award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi, Cudjo’s incredible story is now available for young readers and emerging scholars. This poignant work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.

About Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountains; and Seraph on the Suwanee) and was still working on her fifth novel, The Life of Herod the Great, when she died; three books of folklore (Mules and Men and the posthumously published Go Gator and Muddy the Water and Every Tongue Got to Confess); a work of anthropological research (Tell My Horse); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road); an international bestselling ethnographic work (Barracoon); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and lived her last years in Fort Pierce, Florida.

About Ibram X. Kendi

Ibram X. Kendi is a National Book Award–winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include Antiracist Baby; Goodnight Racism; How to Be an Antiracist; and How to Raise an Antiracist. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. In 2020, Time magazine named Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has also been awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Linda

I read the original book by Zora Neale Hurston years ago and now have read the adaptation for young readers by Ibram X. Kendi. He kept the flavor, the horror and the heartbreak told to Hurston by Cudjo Lewis, captured and brought to the states by the Clotilda, the last slave ship to bring slaves. Ev......more

Goodreads review by D.T.

I think the adaptation was well-done. For one, it cuts the filler and the many many prefaces of the original Barracoon. The Transatlantic HUMAN trade and other enslavement practices are explained so simply here. This is meant for children, but it works for anyone to get the gist of his story. But Koss......more

Goodreads review by Barb

A terrific primary source told by a an African sold into slavery in the USA. “The past is always teaching us through stories.”......more

Goodreads review by Lynn

Wow! I’ve read Hurston’s original version and am in awe of the YA adaptation. Ibram X Kendi has done an outstanding job adapting this book for younger readers. So moving and haunting. An excellent read for any age.......more

Goodreads review by Caroline

I have been wanting to read Barracoon for years, but I struggle to make the time for very many adult books. When I saw that a young readers adaptation was coming out, I jumped at the opportunity to read this story. It is filled with so much sadness and hurt but also so much happiness. I am so glad t......more

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