This had the potential to be an outstanding book, but the author chose to be coy about the context and not reveal the name of the protagonist until the penultimate page. Even for grownups, it’s confusing. A lot of reviewers seem to think that Booker’s family (that’s a spoiler! What kind of biography is it where the subject’s name is a spoiler?!) is enslaved; a bit of research confirmed my impression that it’s set during Reconstruction. Again, that’s pretty basic information to leave out.

I’m 100 years closer in age to my grandchildren than Booker, and I have to supply context when I tell them about my childhood. If this book had been narrated by an elderly, reminiscent Booker who supplied necessary information about his background and perhaps his later accomplishments (at least to the extent of “I went to college and founded a college so other young Black people could get an education”), it would have been a far less confusing book and I would have kept it. ( )

Lovely. I wanted it to go on and wasn't a fan of the stopping point. But that's a personal preference. ( )

First off, I liked this book for many reasons. The first reason being the illustrations. I thoroughly enjoyed how pleasing and detailed the illustrations were. In my opinion, the illustrations showed great emotion in the characters faces. You could see that Booker (main character) was very tired out and his emotions were portrayed very well in the illustrations. Secondly, I enjoyed the passion that the story was written with. Booker wants to learn how to read and with the use of language, the reader can feel and understand that passion. For instance, the story states, "After work, even though my shoulders still ache and my legs are stained with salt, I study my book. I stare at the marks and try to imagine their song.". I felt this quote when I read it. Being a nine-year old boy, working all day, and still staying up all night to learn to read is very inspiring. With that being said, I think that the main idea of this story is to never give up on what you are passionate about. Booker still does his daily routine of working very hard and still maintains his time to read because he feels so strongly about it. His determination was very true and I enjoyed reading about it. ( )

Personally, I liked this book because of the message it gave. It talked about a boy and how he was a slave but desperately wanted to learn how to read. I think the language in the book was very clear and understandable. The book was also very descriptive and made it easy for readers to create pictures in their heads. For example, one page stated, "A white mountain of salt rises above Papa's head. All day long we shovel it, but it refuses to grow smaller." The writing was well organized and flowed through as the book went along. The story was told in first person, from the young boy's perspective, so I think it is easy for other children to comprehend and understand what the boy was going through in the story. I like how this book also pushes readers to think about slavery and the consequences people had to go through when it existed. The books main message to readers is that we should not take reading for granted. Although almost everyone today is given the opportunity to learn how to read, this why not always the case in past history. ( )

I liked this book because of the illustrations and the message of the story. The illustrations were very realistic, in each page, the boy has a light on him, or a sense of wonder. He longs for a chance to read and the illustrations depict his lifestyle and what keeps him from reading. The main character, Booker, is very realistic; he talks about his hands being tired from shoveling and his life outside of reading. It is very different from now. The message of the story pushes readers to see reading from a boy's perspective during this time. This boy is 9 years old and would love to read; this shows readers not to take reading and learning for granted. The message shows that reading provides happiness for some and can help view the world differently. ( )