I didn't know anything about Seneca Village until reading this book, which is shameful. Who hasn't heard of Central Park? It also reminded me of Malaga Island here in Maine, where a community of free black people were relocated to improve the view.

Anyway, Nelson's poetry, each prefaced by a statement setting the scene, shows you the bustling life of Seneca Village between the 1820s and late 1850s. People dream, die, fall in love and explore. The Fugitive Slave Act and violence hovers around the edges, but life seems pretty normal.

I would personally shelve this in a YA collection, as I think that base knowledge of the slave trade and the upcoming Civil War would enhance the reading.