From School Library Journal
McEachin captures the flavor of the oral tradition upon which the rural South has been built. He sets his story in decidedly unreconstructed, small-town North Carolina, where Moses, a young slave, spins a riveting tale about his dignified "uncle" Ben; a disastrous plantation fire; and, above all, his own distant white father who will not acknowledge paternity. Moses tells his story to an audience of four old-timers who are passing the time of day in Millan's General Store. YAs will readily comprehend the moral stain of slavery upon the national psyche. The message resonates in 1996 as clearly as it did in the post-Civil War era: Emancipation generated bitterness and anger among whites even as it sparked those same emotions in blacks. McEachin's writing adds serious history to the folksy mood, resulting in an effective use of the folk genre. The magic of storytelling dominates the writing, thus avoiding the unpalatable "preacher's tale" effect.?Margaret Nolan, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA