Review of Columbus, Slave Trader

[Lilith Stroup]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Columbus, Slave Trader" by Marcus Wilson.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Columbus, Slave Trader by Marcus Wilson is a historical fiction novel telling the story of the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World and the colonization of Haiti by the Spaniards from the perspective of the Taínos indigenous people. The narrator is a young man named Guarocuya who has returned to his homeland after being captured, taken to Spain, and paraded around before being baptized as a Christian and becoming the godson of the king and queen of Spain. When he returns home, he finds out that the tension between the Spaniards and the Taínos has increased. With tensions continually rising, and the threat of enslavement of the Taínos people becoming a real possibility, it is up to Guarocuya and his allies to try to make peace between the two groups so that they can live side by side.

The main reason why I liked this book is that it reminded me a lot of those Dear America books. Unlike the Dear America series though, this book provides a glimpse at what life may have been like for the indigenous people who encountered the very first Europeans coming to the New World. Another positive about this book is its potential to be a great teaching tool. As a high school student I remember learning about colonization from the perspective of the colonizers, but I never really heard much about the experience of the indigenous tribes except that it wasn’t good. I think having students read this book as part of their history class, even though it is a work of fiction, would be beneficial to their learning experience because it offers a more in-depth look at the oppression and maltreatment the indigenous tribes faced at the hands of the Europeans.

I can think of nothing bad about the book that would keep it from earning a perfect rating. I recommend that everyone, especially history students, read Columbus, Slave Trader. The graphic material in the book is a necessary part of the story because it actually happened and needs to be told. However, even though I would recommend it for history students, I think readers should be at least in high school to be mature enough for the content in this book. This is because the book features themes of racism, religious bigotry, slavery, and sexual assault. That being said, I give the book five stars out of five.

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Columbus, Slave Trader
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