Buffalo Soldier

By Author / Illustrator

Tanya Landman

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Walker Books Ltd

ISBN

9781406314595

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-04-2014

Synopsis

Winner of the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2015, this is a beautiful piece of historical fiction told with heart and humanity.

Winner of the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2015. \"What kind of a girl steals the clothes from a dead man's back and runs off to join the army? A desperate one. That's who.\" At the end of the American Civil War, Charley - a young African-American slave from the deep south - is ostensibly freed. But then her adopted mother is raped and lynched at the hands of a mob and Charley is left alone. In a terrifyingly lawless land, where the colour of a person's skin can bring violent death, Charley disguises herself as a man and joins the army. Soon she's being sent to the prairies to fight a whole new war against the \"savage Indians\". Trapped in a world of injustice and inequality, it's only when Charley is posted to Apache territory that she begins to learn what it is to be truly free.

Reviews

Tanya Landman has written an important book here, one which, as the reviews say, examines the 'true meaning of freedom'. However, it is also extremely readable, and has a main character and narrator with who one immediately identifies, and whose narrative voice is authentic and likeable. Charlotte (or Charley) is a freed slave, at the start of the American Civil War, but she soon discovers that this so called liberty is a hollow victory, as former slaves have no obvious way of making a living. After her little family unit is torn apart, in a scene which is shocking but sensitively handled, Charley dresses as a boy for her own safety and eventually enlists in the US army, in one of the black American regiments (the 'Buffalo soldiers' of the title and Bob Marley's song, incidentally!). She thrives in this environment, although she can never be her true self, and the inequalities of life in the army for black soldiers is evident. The army's main job at this time, of course, was to subdue the Native American population, and slowly, Charlie begins to question this. She realises, along with the reader, that there are layers upon layers of inequality and injustice, and she starts to identify with the Apache warriors she has to fight. The narrative voice is a strong element of the book, and helps portray Charley's character as well as telling the story in a matter of fact way that adds to the reader's understanding of the historical context and the ethical issues. A deserving winner of the Carnegie Award 2015, and a book to be highly recommended. 368 pages / Ages 14+ / Reviewed by Carol Williams, librarian.