Sugar

Book Review of Sugar by Jewell Parker RhodesSugar is a historical fiction novel written by Jewell Parker Rhodes set in the 1870’s in Louisiana. It is set in the time period after the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery. Sugar goes deep into main themes such as discrimination, sexism, racism, and slavery. This novel is about a 10-year-old girl named Sugar. Sugar’s mother has died, and nothing has changed, she still works long hard hours planting and harvesting sugarcane, she isn’t technically free. Sugar gives an image of how people from different backgrounds are treated and how hard it is for Sugar each day.Sugar lives with Mr. and Mrs. Beale, she longs to leave this plantation to go North and see what it’s like. Sugar is disgusted by the sweet taste of sugarcane, therefore hates harvesting it every day. Sugar is a very adventurous girl and has a way of finding her own fun. She becomes friends and starts playing with a boy named Billy, whom she is forbidden to be seen with because he is Mr. Will’s son (the plantation owner). Word gets out, and all of Sugar’s friends on the plantation leave to go up North, she now has no one.Reconstruction is in full swing, and things are changing, or so says Mr. Wills. Mr. Wills has hired some Chinese men to come and work on the plantation. Sugar is very excited when she hears this news, and she is immediately drawn towards them. Right away, she is taught to say hello in Chinese, but Mr. Beale forbids her from talking to them again. Ignoring what he says, she manages to draw the Chinamen and African-Americans together and start talking with one another. Mr. Wills and the Overseer are very discriminative towards the Chinese Men and work them extra hard.Mr. Wills hopes that his son will one day take over the plantation and so Billy decides to work in the fields to start learning about sugar cane production. When his mother brings out lemonade and ham stuffed biscuits, the Overseer gets angry because Billy is slowing down production. He and Mr. Wills exchange some heated words and the Overseer is fired. He leaves, vowing revenge. Times are indeed changing, and when the Overseer takes his revenge, the result brings changes for everyone though not what might be expected.Sugar is a strong, energetic, and smart young woman who longs to see the rest of the world. I would recommend this book to ages 11 and up because it has some reality to it; these situations actually happened in the 1800’s. Sugar has unlikely friendships that can build up to change lives forever. This book highlights that people are people, no matter their color, race or cultural background, we are all just people.Rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.

It's 1870, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation put an end to slavery, but life hasn't changed on the sugar plantation where ten-year-old Sugar lives. She and the others former slaves in the compound still work day and night to plant and harvest sugarcane. When Mr. Wills, the plantation owner, brings in a group of Chinese men to work the cane, the older plantation workers are afraid this will mean the end of their jobs and the meager pay they receive. But Sugar is fascinated by the Chinese men and soon becomes their friend, just as she made friends with Billy, Mr. Wills' son against everyone's wishes..Sugar is a high-spirited character who isn't afraid to question a life that requires her to work long hours while Billy takes lessons and plays. She leads the way in bringing changes to the attitudes and behavior of the black and white adults. With a reading level of 2.9, this would be an excellent book for elementary school classrooms and family reading.

This is not a life I thought would be SugarBook Review by, “Manav Desai”Sugar is a historical fiction book written by Jewell Parker Rhodes. The main character Sugar and the river road folks to deal with brutal hardships still after the Civil War. The author's descriptive style of writing helps you bring in all your senses in the book. This book shows the severe hardships that Sugar feels on the Sugar plantation. At the beginning of the Novel, she happy living with her mother but her father is in the south. She has always had an interest in this world. And she meets her chances with China Men. The River Road folks always told Sugar not to be friends with Beau and Master Liu. Beau is a Chinese migrant worker who spends a lot of time with Sugar. The book really incorporated the cultures and how they were similar in a way. Sugar and Beau really start to develop their character throughout the book, which gives the book a sense of realism. In the end, all the problem of their life ends and they live happily ever after. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to see what still happened after the civil war or who wants to experience a sense of accomplishment.Rating 4 out of 5