Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/15/2023 Gr 5 Up—Weatherford and her son have created a poetic meditation on the process of researching ancestry, with a specific focus on those who are descended from those who were enslaved. Told in many voices, these poems tell the story of a long line of individuals who were removed from Senegal and taken to the Chesapeake Bay. The Weatherfords imagine the lives of those who couldn't have recorded their own as they weave together a narrative of their ancestors. Poems include chilling information drawn from primary sources, including inventory documents that placed a value on human lives. These sections are evocative of similar sections in Julius Lester's Day of Tears. The poem "Partus Sequitur Ventrem/Offspring Follows Belly" introduces the concept that during this time babies born to enslaved women were also slaves. Dramatic scratchboard illustrations throughout the book allow the tone of the poems to switch swiftly from lighter to darker topics, using design to prepare readers for some of the more difficult content. Author's and illustrator's notes provide context, and a bibliography offers sources for additional research. VERDICT A unique book that will be appreciated by the right readers, especially those familiar with Kwame Alexander's The Door of No Return.—Kristin L. Anderson - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 07/23/2023 A sweeping, poetic, and genealogical look at how family was defined and unraveled through enslavement, Carole Boston Weatherford’s novel in verse explores her own journey toward finding her ancestors, alongside the gut-wrenching, detailed scratchboard artwork of her son. How can one trace their family history from a portrait hanging in a living room to a slave ship bobbing off the coast? Through historical records and Weatherford’s rhythmic, imaginative style, her ancestors come to life, as does the reader’s journey through time, from plantation to plantation, through historical moments and quiet afternoons in the Wye House. Weatherford’s work here—to help build a bridge from the Door of No Return to a place of hope for generations to come—is an impressive feat that nicely supplements any nonfiction work on the Middle Passage through the Civil War. The stark line illustrations on alternating black and white pages are a searing accompaniment to the verse, bringing these figures out of the darkness and deepening the humanity that glows in the pages. For fans of Kwame Alexander, Ashley Bryan, and Faith Ringgold. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.