A Cage Without Bars

by Anne Dublin

Overview

In 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain signed the Edict of Expulsion, giving all Jews three months to leave the country. In the aftermath, twelve-year-old Joseph escapes to Lisbon, Portugal with his parents and younger sister, Gracia. After only eight months of safety, Joseph and Gracia, along with hundreds of other Jewish children, are kidnapped from the port in Lisbon and put on a ship. They then make a dangerous journey to the island of São Tomé, off the coast of West Africa. Now slaves, they are forced to work on a sugarcane plantation. Joseph must work in the fields, his life repeatedly saved by a combination of luck, strength, and quick wits. While Gracia tries to accept their circumstances, Joseph holds on to the hope that, one day, they will be free.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772600742
Publisher:	Second Story Press
Publication date:	09/10/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Anne Dublin is a former teacher-librarian and award-winning author living in Toronto. She has written two biographies for Second Story Press: June Callwood: A Life of Action and Bobbie Rosenfeld: The Olympian Who Could Do Everything, as well as Dynamic Women Dancers, part of the Women’s Hall of Fame Series. She has also written the children’s historical fiction novel The Orphan Rescue.

Editorial Reviews

This is a standout work of historical fiction for children.

AJL

"The well-developed characters feel very real. Although the book is explicit about the suffering these children and others endured, the excellent writing makes the book accessible to children..."

Jewish Book Council

A Cage Without Bars is a short, well paced novel that will likely fill in a very specific gap in a young adult historical fiction collection.

CM Magazine

"This is a standout work of historical fiction for children."

Association of Jewish Libraries

2018-07-16
In 1492, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain sends 12-year-old Joseph and his young sister to slavery on a sugar plantation.Any Jews who don't convert must leave their homes in Spain, but neighboring countries have no desire to take in these unwanted refugees. When Joseph and his family, after a grueling walk on which many of their thousands of fellow Jews die, reach the border with Portugal, they're told that they must pay everything they have or they'll become slaves to the king. Joseph's parents pay the tax, but to no avail. In a harrowing scene, these Jewish refugee children are ripped from their parents' arms and sent into slavery. Many of the children die on the brutal ocean journey to São Tomé, off the coast of central Africa. On São Tomé, the children—forcibly converted to Christianity—prepare the land for sugar farming along with white Portuguese convicts and, eventually, African slaves. Joseph, who can read and write and figure, has some privileges, though he still labors in the fields. When he befriends an Igbo slave known as Tomás, Tomás makes it clear that white-skinned, literate Joseph's slavery is qualitatively different from his own. While the scenario and constant peril should draw readers in, Joseph's first-person narration is sadly flat; a topic this vital deserves a more compelling story.An important educational (rather than enthralling) take on this little-known historical tragedy. (map, historical note, endnotes, author's note, glossary, further reading) (Historical fiction. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews