Hurston, Zora Neale. Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers. Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, Illus. Addl. Creator Ibram X. Kendi. Amistad, 01/2024. 195pp. Biography. Trade $18.99. 978-0-0630-9833-6. GRADES 6–8. LOW ADDITIONAL.
Zora Neale Hurston’s 1927 first-hand account of the life of Kossula, the last living U.S. victim of the Atlantic slave trade, is an epic and a national treasure. Her principled refusal to alter Kossula’s vernacular resulted in publication being delayed until 2018. Illustrated for the first time, this edition features Lee-Johnson’s haunting, realistic black ink prints, which use both additive and subtractive techniques. Readers have the sense that the portraits, and glimpses of the past, are emerging from the rich, dark background. Unfortunately, Kendi’s adaptation, while preserving much of Hurston’s work verbatim, violates the spirit of her participant-observer role. Unlike Hurston, Kendi does not make clear where he has inserted his voice and commentary. By eliding elements, changing words, and inserting opinions, he has muddied the context and altered the meaning of Kossula and Hurston’s original account. Sanitizing a great work like Barracoon destroys both its vitality and its integrity as a work of nonfiction. Far better to let young readers wait a year or two and read the original.
Melissa McAvoy—Retired