Monday: "The bell rings.../ Daddy gathers wood./ Mama cooks./ We eat./ Mama kisses me./ Daddy hugs me./ My brother Ben/ touches my shoulder/ good-bye." Mama, Daddy and Ben head to the fields "with the overseer/ and Master Tucker's other slaves." On Tuesday, "the bell rings" and the cycle begins again. Wednesday is different: "The bell rings," but Ben "surprises" his little sister, first, "with a kiss on the cheek,/ then whispering/ 'Good-bye'/ in [her] ear." Thursday, the girl wakes to the sound "of Mama and Daddy/ searching." Mama is crying. "No Ben." Daddy is crying. "Ben ran."
On Friday, Daddy gathers wood and Mama cooks. The little girl can't eat. Saturday, "we talk of Ben," the girl's first-person narration says. "We miss him./ We hope he's free/ like the birds." Later, the boys who ran with Ben are found and whipped; "all night" the family cries, praying for Ben. On Sunday at worship, Big Sam preaches and everyone prays that "Ben made it./ Free like the birds./ Free like Moses./ No more bells." Then, it is "Monday..." again.
Award-winning author/illustrator James E. Ransome (Game Changers) uses The Bell Rings to, in his words, "address the difficult choice enslaved persons faced when making the decision to leave their loved ones behind." To do this, the work focuses on the "equally heart wrenching" impact on those left behind. Ransome's text is spare, the simple verse giving every action and emotion a universal feel. The text is repetitive, highlighting the ceaseless nature of the work forced upon the slaves. And, of course, Ransome's acrylic illustrations are magnificent. Every illustration is a snapshot of lives being lived, each a moment in time, fully saturated with color, emotion and action. The Bell Rings is a perfectly balanced, deeply emotional work of art. --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness