title: Hush Harbor: Praying in Secret (Carolrhoda Picture Books)
author:  Freddi Williams Evans 
description: Grade 2&ndash;4&mdash;Enslaved Africans in the antebellum South were forbidden to gather for fear that they would plan uprisings so they met at night in secret locations called "hush harbors" to practice their religion. Evans captures the drama and tension of one such meeting as word is quietly passed through the cotton fields and anticipation builds. Simmy, a child assigned as lookout, describes the meeting, first with its joyful singing and prayer, the behavior of those moved by the Spirit, and the terror when the barking dogs of the "paterollers" are heard. Banks's highly stylized paintings are wonderfully expressive and amplify the deep emotion of the situation. Her palette of yellows and browns shows people who are swathed in moonlight yet avoids the dimness that night scenes sometimes have. An extensive author's note outlines African religion from the arrival of slaves in America to the founding of the First African Baptist Church.&mdash;<I>Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00171.jpeg)
  
  > **hush, hush**
  
  >  **hush, hush**
  
  BECCA FITZPATRICK
  
  ![](Images/image00170.jpeg)
  
  ![](Images/image00169.jpeg)
  
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