Way Up and Over Everything
by Alice McGill
Illustrated by Jude Daly
Houghton Mifflin Books
In Bookstores Now
Ages: 6 and up

Way Up and Over Everything is a moving piece of African American Folklore, told in the voice of an African mother, telling you just the way it was told to her, long ago.
It’s no surprise to learn that the author of this book is a professional storyteller. The voice is colorful and rhythmic.

The narrator’s grandmama’s mama, Jane, grows up on the Georgia plantation of “Ol’ Man Deboreaux.” When the master brings five more slaves over from Charleston, Jane befriends one who says his name is “Edet.” The overseer shouts at him, reminding him that his name has been changed to Bob.

The depiction of slave life is true to life, without being too much for a young listener, and the language is rich. Slaves learn to “work by the whip. . . If a hoe rested too long, the whip popped. If cottonseeds didn’t hit the dirt fast enough, the whip popped.”

At mealtime, the five new slaves slip away from the rest. When Jane finds them they are over the hill and the owners have taken off to recapture them. As the overseer gets closer and all looks hopeless for the escapees, they merely twirl in a circle and “step up on the air.” They are flying away! And no one can believe their eyes. They float into the sky like helium balloons, ignoring the threats of those on the ground.

The folk art seems obviously appropriate here. Long furrows in the field echo long lines of the log cabin quarters, echo the rows of people sitting on the long wooden benches at mealtime. This is pleasing to my eye. The people in particular are painted so sparingly they look ready to take off before they actually do.

An author’s note explains the origins of this story come from the desire for freedom, when people believed escaped slaves had literally vanished into thin air. A mystic, poetic story that would be a great intro to a discussion of black history.