Parents' Guide to

The Slave Dancer

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Kidnapped White boy sees cruelty of slavery in graphic tale.

Book Paula Fox Historical Fiction 2004
The Slave Dancer Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 3 parent reviews

llama101
llama101 Adult
May 18, 2016
age 13+

I think it would be better suitable for.....

I feel this book has many racial slurs and complete disrespect towards women, such as when the crew look at the naked slaves or when Jessie peeks through windows to see naked women. This book has drunkenness and feel it would be for aged 13+ I just feel this book is too graphic for youngsters since it does depict the horrors of the slave trade. Definitely only for mature teens and up.

This title has:

Educational value
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
abiangel2016
abiangel2016 Parent of 11-year-old
January 19, 2016
age 12+

Its fine but...

This book is great but you do need to be alerted of language and reference to sex, and drugs. I believe this book is only for you if you are mature. This book is also for older kids because it is a little harder to read. It is an interesting book and very good but it is very detailed about the slave trade. Btw it might say Im a parent but I am really 11 years old this book was a little too much for me and many of my classmates.

This title has:

Educational value
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THE SLAVE DANCER begins in 1840 New Orleans, where a young boy named Jessie is kidnapped and forced aboard a "slave ship" bound for Africa. He is forced both to act as a ship's boy and to play his fife while the enslaved Africans are "danced" -- meaning, they're forced to exercise in order to maintain muscle tone during the voyage. Jessie tries to refuse but he's flogged for being disobedient. On the ship, he meets the vicious, greedy, hard-drinking captain and the sullen and contentious crew. But the rigors of the trip west across the Atlantic, including the brutal and unjust flogging of one of the sailors, do not prepare Jessie for the horrors of the return trip. The enslaved are packed into the hold on top of each other; they are brutalized and malnourished, and the dead are thrown overboard. Jessie is eventually able to help one of the captives to safety, but he will never forget what he saw on that ship.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (6):

By telling this story from Jessie's point of view, author Paula Fox helps young readers share his journey and his horror, as the brutality of the slave trade is revealed to him. It's an emotional point of entry to a grotesque world. This is an enormously effective approach, especially when Jessie is made to "dance" the captives. This is a disturbingly (and realistically) violent story, in which inhumane treatment of the captive Africans segues into murder when they are hurled from the ship into shark-infested open water. Younger readers, particularly those who are sensitive to injustice, should read this book in a classroom setting or along with parents who can help their children understand the material and express their feelings about it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the author's choice to make the narrator of The Slave Dancer a young White boy. How would the story be different if one of the enslaved African people told it?

  • How did it make you feel when Jessie is forced to perform for the Black captives?

  • What did you know about slavery in the U.S. before you read this novel? What more did you learn?

Book Details

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