Book Descriptions
for Cezanne Pinto by Mary Stolz
From The Jane Addams Children's Book Award
Told in the voice of an elderly former African American slave, Cezanne Pinto, this fictional memoir traces his escape from slavery in Georgia to Canada, his return to the U.S. to fight in the Civil War and his years as a cowboy in Texas. With his mother sold to another slave owner, Cezanne fends for himself on his master's plantation. But, before she was wrenched away, his mother told him to run away, and in the company of Tamar, an older female slave, he makes the break for Canada. Along the way, they learn that freedom is not the same for everyone; even in "free" lands, black people have fewer rights than whites. Based upon the life of a real person, Stolz writes outside her own culture to offer Cezanne's life as a way to think about social justice and equality for all.
The Jane Addams Children's Book Award: Honoring Peace and Social Justice in Children's Books Since 1953. © Scarecrow Press, 2013. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Two-time Newbery Honor author Mary Stolz presents a work of astounding imagination--at once a historical novel, a fictionalized slave narrative, and a riveting adventure story. As Cezanne Pinto, who escaped from slavery at the age of 12, nears his 90th birthday, he remembers his childhood on a Virginia plantation, the cruelty of the overseers, the loss of his father, and his beloved mother.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.