Corretta Scott King Award

Elijah of Buxton
By: Christopher Paul Curtis
2008 Award Winner

This story is told from the perspective of young boy. Elijah, who was the first child born free in Buxton, Canada, a settlement formed by runaway slaves just across the border from Detroit. In the first chapter the reader learns that Elijah Freeman is famous for two things. First, he was the first child born free in the “Elgin Settlement at Raleigh in Canada West” (better known as Buxton). Second, when he was a baby he got sick all over the famous Frederick Douglass. Through the story Elijah struggles with being described as “fragile” by his parents and others on the settlement because he tends to be very sensitive. He works hard at trying to convince people that he is ready to be a man. The first part Elijah tells stories and about the residents of Buxton so the reader can have a clearer understanding of the people and the place where they live. By the end of the book Elijah get a dangerous chance to prove that he is no longer fragile. Elijah’s friend Mr. Leroy has finally save enough money, with the help of a generous donation, to buy his family out of slavery in the south. Mr. Leroy gives the money to another former slave, who promises to go to America and find Mr. Leroy’s family. After a couple of days being gone, Mr. Leroy and the other residents of Buxton find out that the former slave has run off with the money to Michigan and has no intentions of buying Mr. Leroy’s family out of slavery. Devastated and enraged, Mr. Leroy calls on Elijah to help him track down his money and the former slave who stole it. Elijah goes with Mr. Leroy, telling no one but his best friend, in search of the former slave but in return finds out what he is made of.

I can definitely see why this book won the Corretta Scott King award. This was the first book I have ever read by Christopher Paul Curtis. He is such a master at portraying different emotions through his characters. Curtis does an outstanding job of engaging the reader with the subject of slavery through a child’s perspective. I was amazed to learn about the historical elements of the Buxton settlement.

The author of the story addresses diversity through out the book. In the beginning of the story the Elijah learns and tells about slavery at a distance, knowing only what he hears from his parents and the other residents. At the end of the story Elijah experiences first hand the horrors of slavery when he accidently runs into five slaves who have been retaken by slave catchers. At first I found this book hard to read because of the dialect it was presented in. However, once I became used to the language, I realized it had a huge impact on the historical relevance to the story. Many times when I read books about slavery, the perspective told is about finding freedom. This book gives an important and interesting history about the slaves who found freedom and the obstacles they still faced even when they were finally free.