Willow

by Tonya Cherie Hegamin

Overview

In 1848, an educated slave girl faces an inconceivable choice — between bondage and freedom, family and love.

On one side of the Mason-Dixon Line lives fifteen-year-old Willow, her master’s favorite servant. She’s been taught to read and has learned to write. She believes her master is good to her and fears the rebel slave runaways. On the other side of the line is seventeen-year-old Cato, a black man, free born. It’s his personal mission to sneak as many fugitive slaves to freedom as he can. Willow’s and Cato’s lives are about to intersect, with life-changing consequences for both of them. Tonya Cherie Hegamin’s moving coming-of-age story is a poignant meditation on the many ways a person can be enslaved, and the force of will needed to be truly emancipated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763667702
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	HL810L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tonya Cherie Hegamin is the author of the young adult novel M+O 4EVR and the co-author with Marilyn Nelson of Pemba's Song. She received an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award and a Christopher Award for her picture book Most Loved in All the World, illustrated by Cozbi Cabrera. Tonya Cherie Hegamin is the creative writing coordinator at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.

I was born and raised outside of Philadelphia, where most of my family has resided for generations, but my favorite place in the world is historic Cape May, New Jersey, still one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! I spent a lot of time there in my family’s house in West Cape May writing my third novel, Willow. I like to think that the ghosts of my great grandparents who lived there were helping me write. During the school year, I’m an assistant professor and I teach children’s literature and creative writing in Brooklyn, New York. I also am a “Creative Coach” who helps people get in touch with and articulate their creativity.


Like many writers, I knew as a child that I wanted to “make books,” and I started writing picture books and poetry when I was six. I used to “study” kids in the neighborhood and make notes about them as “characters” (obviously I was a nerd). I also wanted to be a psychiatrist or a psychic (partially because I thought they were the same thing since they were spelled so much alike), so I knew that character study was important. Now I tell my writing students that knowing your characters is the only way to write a story that others can connect with. Sometimes I can’t tell if I’m telling the story or if the characters aren’t somehow real people in my brain telling the story through me. Sounds creepy, but that’s how I know it’ll be a good book.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:

1. I’m a Type One Diabetic (that means my pancreas doesn’t work at all) and I have to give myself lots of insulin shots and check my blood sugar several times a day.
2. I had a toy poodle named Rambo from ages ten to twenty-seven, and although I never thought I could love another dog, I recently helped rescue a pit bull named Sheba from a kill shelter. I never thought I’d be a pit bull parent but she’s the sweetest (and silliest and snore-y-est) dog ever! Sheba’s so grateful that she gives hugs every morning!
3. Before I started writing and teaching full time I was a vintage clothing vendor and a vegan caterer.

Editorial Reviews

11/11/2013
A solid historical foundation, strong characterizations, and lyrical descriptions highlight Hegamin’s rich novel about slavery and black/white relations before the Civil War. Set in 1848 on the border of the Mason-Dixon line, the story follows two black teenagers: a motherless 15-year-old slave, Willow, and an educated 17-year-old freeborn boy, Cato, passionate about helping fugitive slaves. Eventually their paths cross, but even then the focus remains strongly on Willow and her struggle between being a devoted daughter and fifth-generation slave on Knotwild Plantation and her hunger for education. Willow is taught to read and write by the fair-minded and kind master, Reverend Jeffries, and her poetic voice resonates from the opening pages: “The tree bowed to the edge of the river in such a polite way that it looked as though the tree were asking the river for a waltz.” Hegamin (M+O 4EVR) creates a broad spectrum of believable black characters, while white roles (excepting Rev Jeff) are relatively minor and rarely sympathetic. Tension and suspense infuse the book, but build most effectively in the final scenes, when freedom seems unattainable. Engrossing and educational. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jeff Dwyer, Dwyer & O’Grady. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Stirring. . . . Readers will be caught up in the girl's quiet bravery and her search for the truth behind her mother's mysterious, long-ago death. Even as Tonya Cherie Hegamin reveals slavery's dehumanizing effect on every character — black and white, owned and owner — she also celebrates the power of friendship and love.
—The Washington Post

[A]ffecting . . . Hegamin has crafted a suspenseful coming-of-age novel filled with captivating and poetic language. Character building is strong, and Willow’s growth and transformation is both heartbreaking and inspirational. A must-read for those who enjoy historical fiction.
—School Library Journal

A riveting historical novel... The clear prose of Hegamin allows for a realistic, relatable narrative and underscores the injustices of enslavement. . . . Hegamin handles the adult realities of enslavement and the nineteenth-century setting appropriately for high school readers. ... Hegamin’s exemplary novel complements such classics as the slave narratives by Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass.
—The Horn Book

This richly textured narrative deftly teases out attitudes that are too often simplified elsewhere. . . . An intelligent story. Hegamin touches on themes rarely treated with such grace and nuance; her combination of history, thoughtful reflection, suspense, and romance will satisfy broad readerly tastes.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

[An] arresting story, richly historical, with an engaging narrator and well-drawn secondary characters . . . A gripping . . .  exploration of the anguishing impact of slavery.
—Kirkus Reviews

With an unflinching eye, Hegamin explores the complicated relationships created by slavery, and the horrors specific to being a female slave. ... [T]he final exploration of [Willow's family] secrets creates a beautiful parallel to Willow’s current dilemma. Duty, love, and the freedom to be a fully realized human being make up the crux of this stirring tale.
—Booklist

Tonya Cherie Hegamin slides period details into Willow's simple, insightful narrative, creating a fluid reading experience . . . "Willow" is a well-researched historical novel that features a unique aspect of American slavery.
—BookPage

A solid historical foundation, strong characterizations, and lyrical descriptions highlight Hegamin’s rich novel about slavery and black/white relations before the Civil War. . . . Engrossing and educational.
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

01/01/2014
Gr 7 Up—Willow is an affecting novel set in 1848 Maryland, on a plantation just south of the Mason-Dixon line. Fifteen-year-old Willow is favored by her master, Rev. Jeff. Despite the laws against educating slaves, he has taught her to read and write, although he forbids her to read anything but the Bible. With terribly cruel plantation masters as her neighbors, Willow feels fortunate to have a place in a good home with a "kind master." Just over the Pennsylvania border, Cato, a young black man, born free, is determined to assist as many slaves to freedom as he can. When their lives intersect, Willow's worldview is thrown into question and she is faced with a monumental decision. Hegamin has crafted a suspenseful coming-of-age novel filled with captivating and poetic language. Character building is strong, and Willow's growth and transformation is both heartbreaking and inspirational. A must-read for those who enjoy historical fiction.—Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY

School Library Journal

2013-11-13
An educated slave girl struggles against the confines of race and gender in this coming-of-age story set in 1848 on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. Fifteen-year-old Willow, taught to read by her master, writes letters at her mother's grave, located within sight of the granite Mason-Dixon Line marker. Papa, whom Willow adores--until she finds out what really has happened to her mother--is as controlling as any white master and determined to marry Willow off to a brute from the neighboring plantation. Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award–winning author Hegamin (Most Loved in All the World, 2009, etc.) juxtaposes Willow's first-person narration with Cato's story: a free black 17-year-old aspiring to lead slaves to freedom. When the teens' lives intersect, they fall in love at first sight, precipitating tumultuous results. This arresting story, richly historical, with an engaging narrator and well-drawn secondary characters, is unfortunately marred. The authenticity of Willow's voice, with its awkward sentence structure and dialect, may make the book difficult to access for many in the intended audience. The lack of distinct chapters adds to confusion, as the narrative shifts between the two main characters' stories. The author has researched deeply, but historical tidbits adding local color are so numerous as to impede the plot's progression and even to feel didactic. A gripping but uneven exploration of the anguishing impact of slavery. (Historical fiction. 14-17)

Kirkus Reviews