Towell, Ann. Grease Town

Towell, Ann Grease Town
Tundra Books 2010 232p 19.99
978-0-88776-983-2 elm/ms prejudice appears in Canada in 1860s in oil town VG


Titus Sullivan grows up too quickly when he stows away to Oil Springs, Ontario, an oil town where whites and blacks work side by side in the oil business. Prejudice does not triumph in this tale of the strength of family and tolerance in the 1860s. Not only did the United States fight the Civil War for slaves’ freedom, but also Canada, in its support of tolerance. In the 1850s and 60s our runaway slaves went north to find jobs, and in Oil Springs, Ontario, were forced to work for lower wages, exacerbating already turbulent economic times. As historical fiction, Grease Town is valid and even predictive of what happens when the hateful minority takes charge. It shows the world that prejudice appears everywhere, under a variety of circumstances. In this case, Titus Sullivan’s friendship with Moses, the young son of former slaves, is jeopardized when the members of the town burn down Negro shanties. After running through the night to warn Moses about the impending attack, Titus witnesses the entire incident, and helpless to prevent the conflagration, he shuts down both figuratively and literally. He cannot talk. Will he talk at the trial? The reader doesn’t know until the end of the book when Titus’s Aunt Sadie comes to town and harangues Uncle Amos, with whom Titus resides, to such an extent that Titus must speak out on his behalf! “Shut up!” he shouts at his aunt. Ann Towell adds humor to a dramatic resolution, and brings the book to a close when she has Titus speaking at the trial of the despicable men who had jeopardized the tentative peace of the oil town. This book has good character description and plot, and although children might prefer more action, there is a universal theme that is appealing and thought-provoking. Children learn a bit about oil drilling as well as about the rough characters that the oil business attracted to oil towns over a century ago. Realistic Fiction Squaresky, Martha