Mary Slessor: Forward Into Calabar

What is your overall impression of the book?

Mary Slessor: Forward into Calabar by Janet Benge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My overall impression is that it was very exciting and adventurous. She is very lively and daring. I really like it when, even though begged her not to go and said that she would surely be called if she went to Calabar. I like how she showed a lot of courage and bravery to go to Calabar because a lot of people who go there don't even survive their first term. She also showed a lot of bravery by going inland where no white person had ever been. She even stops her engagement to stay with an inland tribe called Ekenge. This book shows all the different parts of Mary Slessor's life. It's amazing how she grew up working at a cotton mill and grew up to be a famous missionary who went inland into Calabar where no white person ever set foot in.


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What is the book about?

This book is about a girl named Mary Slessor and most of her life. From when before she was a teenager to when she dies from a sickness. Mary grows up with her family in a smelly and rat infested apartment. Her father drinks and spends all of the family money on wine. Her mother said that he couldn't pass a pub without going in and getting drunk. Eventually she becomes a missionary to Calabar, Africa. 

Who are the main characters in the book?

There is only one main character in this book and that is Mary Slessor herself. Mary grows up in a very poor family and two of her sisters die because of the horrible conditions they live in. Mary has to work half days in the cotton mills at age eleven, so they can always pay for the rent on their apartment. Her mother wants there to be a missionary in the family but all of her sons, Robert and John, died. Later, Mary applies to be a missionary and she is asked to be a missionary to Calabar. Even though, Calabar is a very hard place to work, Mary secretly has a dream that she can be a missionary to Calabar and she is overjoyed when the the mission board ask her to be a missionary to Calabar. She starts her missionary experience in a missionary house in Duke Town but her dream is to go inland and tell the gospel to people who had never heard it. Eventually her dream comes true and she accomplishes the impossible.    

What is your favorite part of the book?

My favorite part of the books is when building season comes because I like how how all work together whacking at tree limbs with knives/axes  and digging up roots with sharpened sticks. I also like how the women make all kinds of furniture in Mary's new home. It's also really funny when only the bravest warriors were brave enough to go up another floor. 

What is your favorite character?

My favorite character is Mary Slessor because she is the one and only main character and she is so brave. I also like how she didn't stop pursuing her dream to be a missionary to Calabar even though a lot of people warned her that she would immediately.   

Who would you recommend/not recommend this book to?

I would recommend this book to people who like biographies and stories on peoples lives.  Even though this book is nonfiction and not realistic or historical fiction, if you like either of those genres, I think you would still like this book because they are basically the same except that nonfiction is real and historical and realistic fiction is fake. Lastly, I would recommend this book to people searching for adventure. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who seek fantasy and science fiction.  

Do you want your own copy of the book?

You can get your own copy here.