Melitte

( 2 )
Available through our Marketplace sellers.
See All Options
Other sellers (Paperback)
  • All (24) from $1.99   
  • New (1) from $45.00   
  • Used (23) from $1.99   
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Note: Marketplace items are not eligible for any BN.com coupons and promotions
$45.00
bluehouse
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(39)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

New
Brand new.

Ships from: acton, MA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Close
Sort by
Note: Kids' Club Eligible. See More Details.
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Editorial Reviews

KLIATT
This tale is set in Louisiana in 1772, when the colony changed from French to Spanish rule. Melitte, a six-year-old slave girl, narrates the story of her years working with a cruel farmer and his wife. The story continues until she is 13 and runs away. This is an amazing tale told by an intelligent, compassionate yet illiterate child. It should be used in classrooms so that today's American students can get a vivid, compelling and detailed account of slavery as viewed by a child slave. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 1997, Penguin/Puffin, 147p, 19cm, 96-29533, $4.99. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Sherri Forgash Ginsberg; Duke School for Children, Chapel Hill, NC, July 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 4)
VOYA - Brenda Moses-Allen
Shaik sets her story of slavery in 1770s Louisiana. Mellite, a slave of fourteen, describes her difficult life as the property of a transplanted Frenchman and his cruel wife. Working along side Monsieur in the meager fields of his rundown farm, Melitte questions her fate as an unloved and unappreciated orphan. She finally finds love and acceptance in Marie, Madame and Monsieur's daughter. Melitte teaches Marie a secret code that she stitches in Marie's clothing. When Melitte is allowed to go to a nearby plantation for religious training, she sees other people with the same dark skin. Melitte begins to secretly sew clothes for Madame Preval, that plantation's shrewd owner. After a visit to New Orleans, where she sees many people of color living freely, Melitte decides she will buy her freedom with the money she gets for her sewing. Now, she is forced to consider Marie and the promise she made to always be with her. Melitte and Marie are unbelievably mature for their young years. Melitte is instinctively nurturing in spite of never having a mother to rear her. It is difficult to imagine an eight- and a five-year-old child of that time inventing an elaborate coding system and stealing important documents. Shaik does paint a very vivid picture of the cruelty and harshness of slavery, even for those who were very young, and she discusses historical events; however, this reader would have liked more information about the free people of color who lived in Louisiana at that time. VOYA Codes: 3Q 2P M J (Readable without serious defects, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).
Children's Literature - Melinda M. Sprinkle
Set in Louisiana during the late 1700's, readers meet Melitte, a young slave girl. Forced to work in the fields, clean house, and cook, her days of mental and physical abuse seen never ending. Though young and mistreated, she becomes a loving friend to Marie, her owner's daughter, and they care for one another like sisters. She is forced to choose between the only person who has ever loved her and the freedom she longs to have. Melitte' strength and courage enables her to choose and to keep a loving friend in her heart and memory. The reading is somewhat slow and repetitive at the beginning, but Melitte's struggle to survive and bravery generate interest in a book that addresses slavery, freedom, and friendship.
School Library Journal
Gr 4-8Shaik explores the psychological effects of slavery in this novel set in Louisiana in the 1760s and 1770s. At the age of six, Melitte can not remember ever having a loving touchonly hard work, rags of clothing, scraps of food, and harsh words. She comes to understand that she is "owned" by a poor, hapless farmer and his cruel, selfish wife. Soon she adds child care to her never-ending chores and experiences love as she forms a sisterlike bond with her owners' baby girl. When their rough cabin burns down, Melitte and the Duroux family are forced to move onto a neighboring plantation where Melitte encounters others like herself and learns fully what it means to be enslaved. By the time she is 13, she realizes that her only hope for freedom is to escape. The emotional first-person narrative and well-researched historical detail paint a vivid picture of the times and provide a wrenching look at slave life. Shaik points out the dehumanizing effect of slavery on the slaveholder as well as on the enslaved as readers watch Melitte's owner (who in actuality is her father) become increasingly callous toward the girl, stealing the money she earned to purchase her freedom. In the hopeful ending, her loving half-sister helps her escape and Melitte arranges to be taken to a camp of runaways. Accessible and affecting historical fiction.Eunice Weech, M. L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL
Kirkus Reviews
A novel set in Louisiana that spans the years 176572, when the colony was changing from French to Spanish rule. Narrated by Melitte, a young mulatto slave girl belonging to a feckless farmer and his sadistic wife, the story follows her from the age of six, when she is already working beyond her strength in field and cabin, to the age of thirteen, when, after an unsuccessful attempt to buy her freedom, she runs away. Shaik has vividly imagined the psychic pain of bondage as she traces both Melitte's gradually dawning awareness that her misery and lovelessness are caused by an evil named "slavery" and the concomitant growth of her fierce desire for freedom. In the end, Melitte must leave behind the one person she loves—Marie, the young daughter of her owners, who was entrusted to Melitte's care as an infant and who helps her escape. That Marie, the pampered young "mistress," could be as daring and selfless as Shaik shows her at the tender age of six, strains credibility, but the growth of the bond between the girls is convincingly rendered. Full of period detail and vivid sensory writing, this book provides an aching answer to the question, "What was it like to be a slave?"
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780141304205
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 12/21/1999
  • Pages: 160
  • Age range: 10 - 14 Years
  • Lexile: 720L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.06 (w) x 7.68 (h) x 0.44 (d)

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 2 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 14, 2002

    Melitte

    Set in Louisiana during the late 1700's, we meet Melitte, a young slave girl. Forced to work in the fields, clean house, and cook, her days of mental and physical abuse seen never ending. Though young and mistreated, she becomes a loving friend to Marie, her owner's daughter, and they care for one another like sisters. She is forced to choose between the only person who has ever loved her and the freedom she longs to have. Melitte' strength and courage enables her to choose and to keep a loving friend in her heart and memory. The reading is somewhat slow and repetitive at the beginning, but Melitte's struggle to survive and bravery generate interest in a book that addresses slavery, freedom, and friendship.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 19, 2002

    Melitte

    Since Melitte (means 'doll' in French) was 6, she was the slave of Monsieur (who is really her father) and Madame Duroux. Forced to do the cooking, cleaning, and field work of the tiny farm, the work load never seems to lessin. The only person who loves Melitte. By the time she is 13, she realizes that her only hope for freedom is to escape. The emotional first-person narrative and well-researched historical detail paint a vivid picture of the times and provide a wrenching look at slave life. In the hopeful ending, Marie, her loving half-sister, helps her escape and Melitte arranges to be taken to a camp of runaways.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)