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Lester, Julius. Time's Memory.


LESTER, Julius. Time's memory. Farrar Straus Giroux. 240p. bibliog, c2006. 0-374-37178-4. $1700. JS

In the Dogon religion of Mall, the life spirit, or nyama, lives on after death, but it must be properly cared for so that it does not become destructive. However, in America, too many African people The term African people can be used in two ways. First, it may refer to all people who live in Africa, see also demographics of Africa. Second, it is commonly used to describe people who trace their recent ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa, in particular Sub-Saharan  are dying in the slave trade slave trade

Capturing, selling, and buying of slaves. Slavery has existed throughout the world from ancient times, and trading in slaves has been equally universal. Slaves were taken from the Slavs and Iranians from antiquity to the 19th century, from the sub-Saharan
 and in slavery, and their souls are not being tended, so the creator god, Aroma, sends a young man, Ekundayo, to bring peace to the nyama. The first part of this somber som·ber  
adj.
1.
a. Dark; gloomy.

b. Dull or dark in color.

2.
a. Melancholy; dismal: a somber mood.

b. Serious; grave.
, deeply felt novel of the slave experience tells of the mystical beginning of Ekundayo's life and about life aboard a slave ship. The second part tells how Ekundayo is sent to inhabit in·hab·it  
v. in·hab·it·ed, in·hab·it·ing, in·hab·its

v.tr.
1. To live or reside in.

2. To be present in; fill: Old childhood memories inhabit the attic.
 a slave's body on a Virginia plantation, just before the Civil War. This slave, Nat, is in love with the master's daughter, but Nat's father, Gabriel, is an angry man who wants to kill all the white people and recruits Nat, against his will, for a violent slave uprising that ends tragically. In the end, Ekundayo realizes that remembering the dead, writing down their stories, is the way to finally bring peace to their spirits.

Lester, the author of many books for both young readers and adults, based this tale on his study of the Dogon religion, and he includes a glossary A term used by Microsoft Word and adopted by other word processors for the list of shorthand, keyboard macros created by a particular user. See glossaries in this publication and The Computer Glossary.  of terms at the end. It's a rich and sad story, a bit reminiscent of Walter Mosley's recent 47, another tale of slavery with some mythical myth·i·cal   also myth·ic
adj.
1. Of or existing in myth: the mythical unicorn.

2. Imaginary; fictitious.

3.
 elements. It's certainly an unusual novel, and the dual character of Ekundayo/Nat may be hard for some YAs to follow, but it vividly and movingly conveys the horror and injustice of slavery. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT
COPYRIGHT 2006 Kliatt
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Author:Rohrlick, Paula
Publication:Kliatt
Article Type:Book review
Date:Mar 1, 2006
Words:283
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