I might have liked this one more if I hadn't just read two other historical MG novels. I was bored with the format by the time I got to Color of Fire, and it didn't do anything special. ( )

Summary and Evaluation: Drawing on the events surrounding the largely-forgotten “Great Negro Plot” of 1741 New York, the story is told in the voice of a highly-educated slave girl named Pheobe. She sees, knows, and talks to many of the people implicated in the conspiracy, and is carried along on a wave of state-sponsored racial and religious violence. She is tapped into as an agent of mercy by those in a different kind of conspiracy, but is also used as a government informant, just like most of her contemporaries. I’m normally very suspicious of historical fiction, especially with female protagonists, due to the tendency to romanticize the past, modernize the social politics, and provide opportunities and insights to characters that were simply unavailable, but I found this title inoffensive on these fronts. I liked the emphasis on colonial religious tension, since the idea that the American colonies were a bastion of religious freedom is pretty pervasive. However, the book was very unevenly-paced, at times dragging through tedium, and at others racing through so fast important events and people barely registered. Phoebe’s voice was pretty weak, and she only seemed to really develop a personality in the wake of her master’s betrayal of Cuffee. The fact that this is a “secret” part of history, as well as the moral questions raised, will appeal to a lot of fans of the genre.
Booktalk Hook: This is the booktalk I gave in class:
How scary is a fire? In 1741, there were a rash of suspicious fires across New York City and suspicion fell, quite naturally, on the large enslaved population. When the King’s Magistrates start arresting and questioning people, they offer great incentives for information on the conspirators in “The Great Negro Plot”. Would you tell if it meant an early end to your indenture? Or if it meant that you wouldn’t be a slave anymore? Or that you wouldn’t be burned at the stake? And what would you say if you didn’t know anything, but wanted those incentives anyway? Ann Rinaldi explores this largely-forgotten piece of colonial history in The Color of Fire. ( )

Not as strong as some of Rinaldi's other historical fiction. Ends too quickly. ( )

Read by Kelly, Spring 2006