Missouri's Memories is the second in the trilogy of the Time Travels of Annie Sesstry, advancing the young time-travelers beyond America’s Reconstruction era into the twentieth century. Annie, Emma, and Josh prepare for the National Museum of African American History and Culture grand opening when the winds of history catapult them to the past once again.
Encountering their fourth generation great grandmother, Missouri McElmurry Calhoun on her 50th wedding anniversary reminiscing about her life, surprise and adventure await her descendants as they continue their search for an unknown ancestor brought to the shores of a fledgling nations generations earlier. An unexpected companion joins the young adventurers this time, adding to the sweet marvels of coming of age with the challenges of navigating unfamiliar exploits. The remnants of the Red Summer and the impediments of Jim Crow once again expose the children to history lessons never imagined.
Missouri's Memories is the second in the trilogy of the Time Travels of Annie Sesstry, advancing the young time-travelers beyond America’s Reconstruction era into the twentieth century. Annie, Emma, and Josh prepare for the National Museum of African American History and Culture grand opening when the winds of history catapult them to the past once again.
Encountering their fourth generation great grandmother, Missouri McElmurry Calhoun on her 50th wedding anniversary reminiscing about her life, surprise and adventure await her descendants as they continue their search for an unknown ancestor brought to the shores of a fledgling nations generations earlier. An unexpected companion joins the young adventurers this time, adding to the sweet marvels of coming of age with the challenges of navigating unfamiliar exploits. The remnants of the Red Summer and the impediments of Jim Crow once again expose the children to history lessons never imagined.
Annie sprinted towards the woods, slamming into a thick briar. Clawing her way through the brush, she ignored the thorns piercing her hands and the branches tugging her mangled curls. Sweat soaked through the heavy woolen skirt and high-necked blouse. The Edwardian laced boots did not provide the indispensable speed necessary to escape, but she frantically sprinted away from the predators as best she could. The barking dogs yapping in the distance were gaining, and a voice whispered, Faster, run faster.
Annie wrestled with her inner drive to find safety against the guilt of abandoning a friend in danger. But stopping could result in the demise of them both. Glancing back was a mistake. The toe of her boot caught on an exposed root. From nowhere, a pair of coarse and able hands grabbed her around the waist before she toppled over. The man effortlessly swept her up, placing her over his shoulder. Annie fought the urge to resist him as he carried her securely out of the forest. Her life depended on trusting he meant her no harm.
Bright sunshine obscured his face as he cautiously settled her at the base of a tree adjacent to a small church. He stepped back tentatively before walking away. Annie bent over to a kneeling position. Then crawling towards the man, her desperate voice called out to him, pleading for him to come back and hurry with her into the forest. "We have to save him," her tone was laced with fear and grief. "Please, we can't leave him there to die."
None of it was real. But that was irrelevant. Paralyzing fear and anxiety gripped Annie until a vision of Mamie Calhoun Jones emerged in the distance.
Mamie wandered in an immense field as a faint breeze stirred her billowing gray skirt. The carefree girl spread her arms wide as the sun glistened on her flawless cinnamon skin and locks of thick natural hair. With abandon, Mamie twisted and twirled in the wind. Amid a leisurely spin, her gaze settled on Annie. Angling her head to one side, Mamie's curled lips and crinkled nose were a gesture Annie recognized and cherished. The pounding terror in her chest evaporated at the familiar sight.
Mamie's outstretched arms were reminiscent of Annie's drawing after her first sighting of the striking young woman in Great Falls Village three months earlier. Annie and Mamie were now old friends if you could call it that, by way of shadowy ethereal encounters. The vision of her great-great-grandmother comforted Annie instilling calm. At long last, the thirteen-year-old drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Hours later, Annie opened her sleep-fogged eyes and lay contemplating another restless night. The reoccurring dreams of Mamie and the past were evolving. Did they hold meaning predicting the next journey to a bygone era?
Annie reached for a pencil and the sketchpad resting on the nightstand. Her hand hovered over the pad. Dismayed by an inability to capture the grim woodland scene accurately, she sketched an image of the small church. It was uncharacteristic for her to be unable to draw any picture she chose. A skilled artist, a phenom at thirteen, seasoned professionals envied the gift that flowed effortlessly from her pencil and the ability to capture most anything on paper or canvas.
Lately, Annie dedicated her artistry to creating illustrations of her ancestral family who lived long ago in Crawford, now Bibb County, Georgia. A local gallery scheduled an exhibit of the series after viewing the initial drawings. They would be stunned to learn the sketches represented a firsthand experience. Three months earlier, Annie, her sister Emma, and her cousin Joshua passed through a bewitching gateway at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the mall in the nation's capital traveling back in time. It was enchanting and scary, and it changed Annie's life. Annie captured the details of the incredible adventure in a sketchbook. It documented the unusual excursion and supplied the foundation of the work she was creating for the exhibit.
But the adventure impacted more than the art. Annie acquired an obsession with the singular purpose of solving the mystery that had engrossed her family for generations. Discovering and honoring one resilient ancestor who survived the Middle Passage of the slave trade and handed that resiliency down to their descendants was the aspiration of all McElmurry and descendant time travelers. Annie was the most recent traveler, and she imagined being the one to accomplish the mission others failed to achieve.
The elders charged the wandering descendants with searching for the identity of the Unknown Ancestor. The travelers could be seeking a man or a woman, an astute youth, or a wise sage. It was an impossible charge. But trekking across history was also impossible. Yet many in her family accomplished the implausible feat of time travel. It had been passed down from one generation to another for over a hundred years, perhaps longer. It was Annie's turn now, and the name Ann Sesstry would become legendary in the McElmurry-Calhoun Clan. Mamie's recurring presence in her dreams convinced Annie she held the key to uncovering the identity of the Unknown Ancestor.
Mamie was summoning her. No sound echoed in the dreams, but Mamie's lips moved with a charm-laden expression telegraphing her purpose to her great-great-granddaughter. Mamie's spirit beckoned to her, almost daily and not merely when sleeping. Her sweet-sounding voice whispered in the warm autumn breezes. The pungent scent of Georgia's red clay somehow wafted to Annie's nose during the afternoon showers, and Mamie's laughter was caught in the plopping sounds of raindrops. Annie's senses were on alert. Her great-great-grandmother's call made all her neurons tingle. She had to heed it. There was no choice.
Her consciousness crackled in anticipation of what was to come. And this time, she would be prepared when calling upon the good people of 19th century Macon Georgia. Her research was comprehensive. The town's history, people, and geography were as well known to her as the present-day events in Fairfax County, Virginia. She was familiar with the crops grown by the local population and what food people ate. She decided it might be helpful to know the mayor, and it had not been difficult to learn his name was George Obear. Knowledge of the dreaded Black Codes, the laws designed to nullify the rights that came with emancipation, was crucial for navigating beyond the boundaries of the family. Yes, no one could be more equipped for hurling through time again than Annie.
Slipping her hand under her pillow and withdrawing the carving of the Sankofa bird, Annie propped the bird on her pillow. Her fingers raced across the page, giving flight in an artistic illustration to a bird that never flew, only moved forward in legends while gazing back.
Annie did not understand the power of the Sankofa or how the incantation of its name conjured the magic that dispatched the McElmurry descendants careening through time. Still, her instincts were firing on all cylinders, and whatever adventure awaited, this sculpture was central to what would happen again soon. Annie pressed her lips to the tiny bird's beak holding the stone. "What is your magic? Why won't you take me back when I call your name"?
Studying the sketches she'd made from her last journey for the hundredth time, Annie hoped to discover some small clue she'd missed beforehand. Annie's breath caught as she flipped to a blank page. Closing her eyes, opening them again, and blinking rapidly, Annie confirmed the blood drops falling onto the sheet of paper were real. There was blood on the statue as well. Turning her palms faced up, she gawked at her blotchy skin. Fresh blood oozed from scratches and thorn pricks covering the surface of her hands. She gazed with fascination trying to make sense of the divide between fact and fantasy as the blood and scratches slowly faded away and the page cleared.
Annie is the latest member of her family to have been chosen to travel in time. It's a tradition that has gone on for years; upon their 13th birthday, select members of the family are initiated into the biggest secret imaginable. Usually, the travellers simply document the families history, and Annie does this through her incredible and rare artistic talent. But it's also up to her to try to unravel the knots of the past, to try to figure out who the Unknown Ancestor is, and to try to ensure that they can finally rest in peace.
The Time Travels of Annie Sesstry: Missouri's Memories starts off incredibly strong, with a hard hitting first person account of living and dying through the horrific slave trade as a prologue. The narrator is angry; angry at their people's plight. Angry that even after the emancipation, their people are still mistreated and oppressed. It's a harrowing initiation into the book - you feel the Unknown Ancestor's rage leaking through the page.
As the book begins proper, we meet Annie. The most recent descendant of the Unknown Ancestor to travel through time. She's dreaming of her Great, Great Grandmother, but it's not quite a dream; she had stumbled and grazed her hands and when she awakens, her hands are bleeding. She quickly dismisses the phenomenon, more concerned about her upcoming fall formal dance at school, and the boy she's got her eye on.
Honestly, I enjoyed this book - no. Actually, I loved it. The past crimes of the Landowners in the United States is something that should be, in my opinion, taught in every classroom. It's a fact that we all need to face; White people treated Black people appallingly. It's a basic truth.
But, I had to knock the rating down because in places there were some narration issues in the main text. The perspective would shift from Annie to her mother, to her sister. There was confusing dialogue, and some issues with the tense. Those aside, though - buy this book. It's a beautiful story, with a unique plot line, that tells us all important truths.
S. A