My+Name+is+Not+Angelica

Raisha lives happily with her family, and she is pledged to be married to Konje. King Agaja wants to befriend them, so that his goods can be transported through it. They will be payed for the taxes on slaves. He invites them all to a big celebration. But the elders refuse to help the slave trade, and Raisha is taken captive, along with many others. She is put on a slave ship, which is awful. Many die on the voyage. She is sold to the van Proks, who have a plantation on St. John Island. The slaves have terrible working conditions, and many run away. Raisha helps in the house, and she is given the name Angelica. Konje runs away to a camp with many others. He often comes to visit her, and he promises to take her with him someday. The Governor is angry, and makes many more punishments for runaways. Raisha’s friend, Donde, helps a young boy escape execution. He is tortured to death because of it. Angelica runs away. She hides in Whistling Cay, and catches fish to take to the runaways. She finally reaches the camp, and she marries Konje. A French ship comes to force surrender. The slaves won’t be captured, and one by one, they jump off a cliff to their deaths. But Raisha stays with her baby, and is eventually free.

I learned a lot about African culture. The elders decide who you will marry, and you cannot marry until the man is thirty. They have many fancy fabrics and bangles at their big celebrations. Fancy gifts are given if they want to please royalty. They believe in spirits and omens. When they die, they believe that they are free to go back to their home. And they believe that spirits may follow you.- Susannah What I learned about African culture is that breaking the rules is a pretty big no-no. They couldn't get married until the man was thirty years old, and the woman doesn't get to choose who you marry. If they did break the rules they could get killed, or almost killed. What they believe in is very different from what we believe. If you were to die, you could go and follow a family member or friend. -nikole  I learned a lot about Africa's culture. If you want to make someone who is important happy, you give them good gifts. Slaves from Africa are treated badly, and they have a lot of rules. If you break the rules, you are punished harshly. If a white person thinks that you did something bad, you are punished even if you didn't do it. When you die, the Africans believe that you will go back to your home. ~ Erin I liked this book. I was a little confused at the beginning, but then it started to pick up and get interesting. I really liked the last part of the book. It kept me reading and wondering what would happen. //By: Susannah Boersma // I liked this book because it was interesting, fast, and very easy. My favorite part is the ending because it is very unexpected, and I really wanted to know what Raisha and Konje were going to do. //-nikole// This book wasn't my favorite. Not a lot of things happened, it just told about Raisha and what happened to her when she was a slave. I think that the ending was bad because everybody just jumped off a cliff. Even Raisha's husband left her, even though they were married. ~Erin