Elijah of Buxton

I recently had a long period of uninterrupted reading time presented to me while taking a family member to the emergency room. I had a sack full of books, and despite the odd looks from the odd collection of people in the room it certainly made the 6 hour wait a little more palatable. One of the books that I read during my wait was Elijah of Buxton. I enjoyed the book immensely - it has wonthe place of my favorite of Christopher Paul Curtis' since Watsons. I thought to myself - WOW - now this ought to win something, and sure enough, just a few days later it was announced as the Coretta Scott King award winner for the year. Congratulations Elijah!

I must also confess, while on the topic of Elijah, that I am no big fan of historical fiction. I say that almost reflexively since history was always my WORST subject in school, but then when I am being completely honest with myself, I can name a score of historical fiction novels that are among my favorites, and that I recommend to students all the time. Perhaps it is time to change my catch phrase to historical fiction is not my preference. I make exceptions for some because I enjoy a good story - historical or otherwise. If that good historical story has other genre elements blended in with it (like mystery or humor) AND the focus is on events or groups of people that did not pepper my history classes as a student, it stops being the historical enemy and usually crosses the line to historical friend.

Elijah of Buxton satisfied all of these requirements, and was told in Curtis' fabulous way. Just like Watsons I started out laughing, thoroughly enjoying and getting to know the plucky main character, Elijah. At the same time, I was introduced to a place I hadn't heard of before, the Elgin Settlement and Buxton Misson of Raliegh in Buxton, Canada. Founded by the Reverend William King in 1849 the settlement was intended as a place of freedom for escaped slaves. Elijah is the fictional story of the first child to be born into freedom in the settlement. Filled with humor, a good dose of rollicking action and rich secondary characters, the climax settles around the theft of money from a man in the settlement who was hoping to buy his family out of slavery with the money he had made. The transitions are haunting - you can be laughing until you ache one minute and then have your heart broken the second - much like life, making Elijah someone you will miss when you turn the last page of the novel. Definitely worth your time to pick up and enjoy!