Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen

First published: 1979

Type of work: Historical fiction

Themes: Coming-of-age, family, and religion

Time of work: The second quarter of the twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 13-15

Locale: The cotton-growing country of Texas

Principal Characters:

• Lena Sills, the oldest daughter of the Sills family
• Ben Sills, Lena’s father and the thematic hero of the novel
• Claudie Sills, Lena’s stepmother, who carries the fear of the past with her
• Henry Haney, the father of the shiftless Haney clan
• Tater Haney, the oldest son of the Haney clan, who is anxious to prove his own worth
• Sammy Haney, a younger son who is persecuted by his schoolmates
• Miss Chism, a wealthy widow who is Ben Sills’s employer
• Winslow Starnes, a schoolmate of Lena who is able to overcome the prejudice shown by those around him
• Jaybird Kelsey, a prominent inhabitant of the town

The Story

Before the action of the novel begins, Ben Sills has taken his family and followed his father’s dream: He heads west, leaving Scattercreek, a Southern black community. They settle in a town in which they are the only black family and find both acceptance and prejudice. When Lena defeats Winslow Starnes at a memorization contest, she feels that she has asserted her own worth and individuality. When, however, she receives the prize for her victory, a boy’s bow tie, she rejects it and feels cheated. Arriving home, the family finds more disturbing evidence of how the town—or at least the Haneys—feel about their presence: A butcher knife has been struck through a loaf of bread, and their dog, Bullet, has been killed.

Lena is angry and confused; Claudie is angry and frightened. She fears a repetition of her own past, when white riders had destroyed her home and murdered her neighbors. Yet Ben will not be mastered by fear, nor will he allow someone else to define who he is or how he should act. His major struggle, as Claudie explains to Lena, is his inability to reconcile the words of Scripture—“Do good to those who persecute you”—with his recognition that he might have to act violently in order to protect his family. Little by little, Lena comes to understand his struggle and his courage. He works out in his own life a very Christian approach to living, manifested by a true desire to understand others rather than to hate or fear. As Lena puts it, Ben looks to the inside of things.

Ben has been working for Miss Chism, a rather crabby wealthy woman whom the town seems to ignore. When Miss Chism asks for Lena’s help in preparing for a major dinner party, Ben agrees and Lena must miss some days of school; she accedes only grudgingly. The very next day, she begins her work, and while cleaning the attic she finds a box of books: poetry, atlases, and novels. She longs for them, as she longs for anything that she might read. Miss Chism, however, sternly directs her to put them under the eaves. Lena cannot abide the temptation and takes an atlas. That night, she tells her family that Miss Chism has lent her the book, and they all examine it with delight.

The next day, Lena returns the book and takes another, this time a collection of poetry. During her work, she brings Miss Chism’s dying bird to Jaybird Kelsey, hoping that he can find some remedy. He cannot, and for the first time Lena glimpses some of the pain that fills Miss Chism’s life as she sees this connection to her dead husband severed. Lena, however, is too busy to comfort Miss Chism, as she is directed to clean the bathroom—the first one she has ever seen—and helps to unload crates of merchandise which Miss Chism has bought in an attempt to use her money before she dies and before it goes to her children.

That night, Lena and Ben pore over the book of poetry, and Lena writes down many of Walt Whitman’s poems. By morning, however, an accident has ruined the book, and Ben finds that Lena has been taking the books without permission. Despite her realization that the books mean little to Miss Chism, Lena comes to accept that she must confess to Miss Chism. Ben accompanies her, and on the way they stop at the Haneys to retrieve some wire and fence posts that Miss Chism had bought. She had intended for Mr. Haney to mend fences on some property, but he has delayed too long and now she has given the job to Ben. Angry at losing the job, Mr. Haney has already sold the wire and posts. When he rides away, ostensibly going to talk with Miss Chism, Ben tries to look inside the barn and is attacked by Tater Haney. Lena comes to his defense, swinging the bag containing the blighted book, but Ben stops her, wishing to show her that she must try to understand why Tater attacked him, but also recognizing what it might mean if a black man in this community attacked a white boy.

Miss Chism is quite angry over the book, but when she hears Ben agree to mend the fences (a job entailing some days’ absence from his family), she becomes willing to lend the books to Lena. Lena is overjoyed and is especially happy when Winslow becomes increasingly friendly during the next few days. They are not happy days for Miss Chism, however, who finds that no one comes to her dinner party. She recognizes that, except for the Sills family, no one really cares for her.

When Ben leaves to ride the fences, Lena’s life becomes more complicated. Winslow’s father tells him to avoid Lena, and Mr. Haney comes to threaten the family, appearing at night while Lena is alone with the young children. When Ben does not come home at his appointed time, Lena steals out of the house to find him. She travels for a full day, finally coming upon the wagon and, eventually, her own father. He has been shot by Tater, who has been dragged by his horse and who also lies dying. Ben has tried to help him, but he is too weak. He lays a terrible burden on Lena: to help the one who shot her father. He sends her away to find Tater’s horse, though she knows that he is really sending her away so that she might not see him die. When she returns, she has made her decision; his life has been an example to her. She covers her father after placing him on the wagon and then lifts Tater in beside him. They drive back to the Haney home, she leaves the boy, and then she makes the difficult journey to her own house.

Lena never tells what happened in that field. She never implicates Tater, though she is pressured to do so. Her father’s forgiveness becomes hers. Her inner struggle, however, is not without fruit. At the close of the novel, she looks across the fields and sees Mr. Haney, bent against the weight of his sack, picking their cotton for them.

Context

Words by Heart is the best known of Ouida Sebestyen’s four novels for young adults, the others being Far from Home (1980), IOU’s (1982), and On Fire (1985). On Fire is set in Colorado and follows the further adventures of the Haney family. The story focuses on Sammy, and Tater eventually comes to recognize that he has killed a better man than he. Far from Home is set in Texas, IOU’s in Colorado. All the novels are based on Sebestyen’s own experience and store of remembered stories.

In writing about a strong black family that must face the prejudice of a white community and in writing her story as historical fiction, Sebestyen inevitably invites comparison with Mildred Taylor, particularly her Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976) and Let the Circle Be Unbroken (1981). Each of those works also tells of a strong black family in the South. A significant difference is Sebestyen’s insistence in Words by Heart on focusing not so much on the horrors of prejudice as on the religious themes that give meaning to Ben Sills’s life.

In the end, a deep religious consciousness informs this novel, as well as Sebestyen’s other novels. This is not to say that the novels are didactic or moralistic; rather, they lead a reader to see the importance of faith in one’s life and to recognize the small miracles—and the big miracles—to which strong faith can lead.