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School Library Journal
Reviewed on February 1, 2009
Gr 5-8 This title celebrates the life of a little-known African-American hero. Born into slavery off the coast of South Carolina, Smalls later saved $700almost enough to buy his young family's freedom. When the birth of a second child put a higher price on the prize, he started thinking of escape. In May of 1862, as a deckhand on a Confederate battleship, he and a small group of slaves and their families boarded the "Planter" in the dead of ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2008
Robert Smalls, a slave and skilled sailor, maneuvers a ship manned by other slaves past guards in South Carolina to freedom. He l...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on November 1, 2008
In Robert Smalls, the Boat Thief, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. puts Smalls’s escape in a broader context: that of Smalls’s life of struggle and service to his country. The events of the boat theft are skillfully narrated, full of details that bring the story to life and increase the suspense. For example, at 3:00 am, Smalls broke into the officers’ quarters to steal a straw captain’s hat and uniform, which would allow him to pass for a Confederate captain in the early morning light. T...Log In or Sign Up to Read More