Speak Right on: Dred Scott a Novel

By Mary E. Neighbour

Book Overview

Who was Dred Scott, other than one of America's most famous slaves? History cannot answer that question because no one bothered to record even the most basic details about the man at the centre of one... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0996254102
• ISBN13: 9780996254106
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Upriver, Downriver Books
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Mary E. Neighbour---write right on!

Neighbour weaves a compelling tale around the facts of Dred Scott's noteworthy life. Her talent to tell his story in his imagined dialect adds to the charm of this poignant novel. Her writing drew me into Dred's life so that I felt I was experiencing the horrors of slavery and the struggle to win his freedom through our courts. My family,friends and I were captivated by Neighbour's recent speech at the Library of Congress to mark the 150th anniversary of his Supreme Court decision.

Reviewed by Sabrina Williams

When I was initially offered the opportunity to read a novel about Dred Scott, I was eager to expand my limited knowledge of such an important figure in our nation's history. I felt I owed my ignorance to either a failed public school system or my own inattention in American History class. As it turns out, the reason behind my lack of knowledge is most likely due to our lack of information as a country. Because of Scott's slave status (or lack of status) and because most slaves, Scott included, were illiterate, there are few recorded documents regarding his life despite the incredible influence he had on the destiny of the United States of America. From the court documents and other various resources that are available, we know that Dred Scott was a slave who sought freedom through legal means. With the assistance of the sons of his former master, Scott took his case to the Supreme Court to sue for freedom for himself and his family. In this monumental court ruling, it was decided that because blacks were not considered American citizens, they did not have the right to sue. Though Dred Scott remained a slave, the sons purchased the family from their owner and set them free. While in Scott's situation, he seemed to have fought a losing battle, in actuality, the ruling regarding his own freedom enraged abolitionists and set the acts into motion that led to the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency and consequentially, the Civil War. Mary E. Neighbour has picked up where history leaves off with her 2006 novel SPEAK RIGHT ON: DRED SCOTT A NOVEL. Neighbour takes the pieces of Scott's story and fills in the gaps to present a picture of the person Dred Scott might have been. Though a work of fiction, Neighbour has such a skill for breathing life into characters, the reader sees through the eyes of Dred Scott as if reading from Scott's own journal. Had he been literate, Scott himself could have written the book as an autobiography. It is both a celebration of tradition and family, and an outlet of mourning of lost love and freedom. Through his grandmother, Scott became a griot, or African storyteller. To ensure the heritage of his family was preserved after his death, he related his tales to his daughter, Eliza, to be recorded. After both have passed, younger daughter Lizzie finds herself sharing the stories with her own son, Harry. The author begins the stories from Scott's perspective, as if the reader were looking over the journal he and his daughter created. As the book progresses, the author moves back and forth between Scott's words and the elaboration of a narrator. The two flow so smoothly together the reader really doesn't notice the transition between the two. The reader has no trouble at all deciphering the slang and vernacular that would have been used during the time period. It is difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, which shows that Neighbor has proficiently fused them together to create the image of one man's exp

Speak Right On

Living in a basically white state, North Dakota, I have not had much exposure to ethnic diversity. This book was given to me and I accepted it as a novel to pass time. The book was engaging and I was unable to put it down. I longed to know what would happen as I did not know how Dred Scott fit into American history. I was compelled by the notion that Scott's desires are not different from mine even though we lived in a different era with differing histories. Easy to read, I would recommend it to all readers and especially if you are white. I plan to pass it on to my 13 year old son.

Speak Right On - Wonderful Novel

As recipient of one of the 2 gift novels Claudia purchased I lept into this book with extra voracity. Mrs Neighbour's novel is told in mostly first person status. There are some portions that are third or in the view of another character but most of the novel is from the viewpoint of Dred Scott. As I do with novels woven around facts, I got on the web to see what I could verify as true or dismiss as false. I'm not a researcher nor geneologist by trade but was also absorbed into the subject matter as the facts I found only enhanced the story and gave it new life. There aren't many gaps in this story, none that I would call loose ends nor others that confuse the plot. My high school didn't offer much depth to this time period nor these characters of our history. My knowledge was of Dred Scott was sketchy at best. I thank the author for being drawn to this wonderful part of our history and bringing him alive once again. This book will be read often by myself and my children. It is a tale that should be told often and in depth no matter your race, beliefs or upbringing. I will be recommending that the focus on African Americans of historical note include this novel to draw our young people into thinking about not only slavery but our country at large. It's growth and the characters involved in planting the seeds should be given more than a few lines in a history book. "The truth will out" was a phrase I heard often as a child. This novel brings the truth to us in a story of depth, breadth and character. Applause ... Applause ... Applause ! ! ! "Uh-uh. A story, a story! Let it go, let it come." "Let us be off!" ~p6, prologue Join us in this story and enrich yourself with it's lesson. Let us be off!

More Than I Expected!

Congratulations to Mary Neighbour for her sagacious portrayal of Dred Scott as a true example of HONOR. "Speak Right On" exhibits courage and love growing in a boy who values his life and works hard to prove his worth as a man. Neighbour presents all the available historic facts and weaves her own research (of that time of slavery) into absorbing stories of wonder and human resourcefulness. I ordered two books to give as gifts...it is a story to share.