The Other Side of Free

Gr 4–6—A stern, exacting woman named Phaedra fosters 13-year-old Jem in Fort Mose, a Spanish enclave for escaped slaves in 18th- century Florida. In exchange for the protection of the Spanish government, the adult inhabitants of Fort Mose pledge to abandon traditional modes of belief and convert to Catholicism. The men must also join a militia to defend the neighboring settlement against the English. Their military commitment takes on terrifying import following the 1739 Stono slave rebellion. Exasperatingly positioned between childhood and maturity, Jem aches to evade Phaedra's belittling supervision and take up arms, but he fails to prove his intelligence and trustworthiness to the community leaders. Russell layers period and cultural details with a historian's enthusiasm, populating the story with Native American communities, Spanish colonists, Fort Mose refugees, and a French trader. Mining such rich and little-known material offers inherent value to library shelves and school curricula but Russell possibly attempts to pack too much into one book, including several minor mysteries and Jem's devoted rearing of a injured owlet. Though the characterization of Jem wobbles according to the dictates of subplots, the secondary figures retain more solidity; Phaedra in particular evinces an acerbic charm. When the British lay siege to the Spanish holdings, Russell successfully elevates the tension and sheds light on this fascinating moment in history. Readers will be immersed in the suspenseful intrigue and Jem's battle for freedom.—Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY