LS 5603- Genre 2- THE HIRED HAND

San Souci, Robert D. and Pinkney, Jerry. 1997. THE HIRED HAND. Dial Books for Young Readers: New York.

Characters
The main characters in this folktale are: Old Sam, Young Sam and the New Hand. Old Sam represents the hard working business owner. Young Sam represents the people who do not want to work hard but want money. The New Hand represents the honest hard working laborer.
Young Sam is the character that you would trust the least in the story.

Plot
Old Sam owns a sawmill and his son, Young Sam, works with him. However, Young Sam does not like to work and is lazy. Even the people who live in the area think Young Sam will have a “bad end”. A man, the New Hand, comes to the mill and asks to learn the trade of the sawmill and in turn will work for free for a year. Old Sam was pleased with the arrangement and Young Sam saw a chance to get out of work. The New Hand helps a farmer with some magic and Young Sam sees a chance to get rich quick. When Old Sam leaves for a trip Young Sam drives off the New Hand with his foolishness. Young Sam then gets himself into trouble when he tries to recreate the New Hand’s magic by himself. This ends tragically. Young Sam is found guilty of murder. The New Hand enters the courtroom and asks if Young Sam is sorry. Young Sam says yes and magically the farmer’s wife is alive in back of the courtroom. Young Sam is set free and works hard the rest of his life and the New Hand is never seen again.

Setting
The setting of the story is a town in Virginia. I would place the timeframe after the civil war since Old Sam owns a sawmill and is black. The mode of transportation in the book is horse and wagon. The only verbage used about the passing of time are the words “fall” and “winter”.

Theme
The underlying message in the story is that hard, honest work is the best way to go. When you try to gain wealth quickly and dishonestly it often turns out badly for you. Also, if you are lazy in your life then you might wind up with a “bad end”.

Style
The speaking parts of the story are written with the culture and time period in mind. The words are often shortened and the characters to not always speak in complete grammatically correct sentences. The magical sayings of the New Hand have a rhyme and rhythm. As you read the story aloud you can almost feel as if you are in that time seeing the story unfold before you.

Illustrations
The illustrations add to the magic of the folktale. All of the lines are not crisp and the colors tend to blend into each other where there is not a definitive line. I especially liked the facial expression of Young Sam at the end of the book in the courtroom when he saw the farmer’s wife.

Cultural Markers
The language along with the illustrations paints a picture as to the life of Black Americans in the time period. All of the characters in the story, even in the courtroom, are black. They show varying degrees of status from the New Hand in ragged clothes to the Judge dressed in a suit. The language is what sets the story.

Anthologies
This book is a single folktale and is not included in an anthology. The only background is the name of the state, the main setting of the sawmill, and the introduction of Old Sam and Young Sam. There is mention of Young Sam’s lack of work ethic.

Awards and Recognitions
Positive reviews from:
Publishers Weekly
Children’s Literature
School Library Journal
Kirkus Reviews