In the Time of the Drums by Kim L. Siegelson and Brian Pinkney, ill. New York, NY: Hyperion, 1999. ISBN 078680436-X

Annotation: Mentu is an island-born slave boy, taught the ancient drumming and stories of his grandmother Twi’s African homeland. When a slave ship comes to port, Mentu learns what freedom means.

Media: Color oil paints over scratch board illustrations.

Rating: 5Q/4P.

Curricular connections: History/Social Studies, Fairytales/Folklore/Myth, Black History Month.

School level: Upper elementary, Middle school or junior high.

Personification: "This was the time when giant live oaks trembled with the sound of drums...", "...watched the people bend beneath the blistering sun...", and "Then, come a day so hot even the gnats hushed their whining to sit among the tree shadows."

Simile: "But their chains and their song will never leave Teakettle Creek...and the water there will always be salty as tears" and "The old ways had slowly slipped away and been left behind like sweat drops in a newly plowed row."

Repetition: Siegelson uses repetition to emphasize a moment and create more impact such as when Twi and the Ibo people walk into the water chanting "The water can take us home. The water can take us home" and her use in dialog when Twi is talking to Mentu with "Your time to be strong-strong is near."

Onomatopoeia: "But before they could carry them to the fields they hear the sound of drums beating from the far end of the island. Bop-boom-boom! Bop-boom-boom! It was a message in rhythm that meant "A ship is come! A ship is come!"

NP 07/04/09