Forge

Forge

Written by: Laurie Halse Anderson

Award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson have delivered an equally thrilling novel to follow up her National Book Award Finalist book Chains with Forge. Readers can pick up right where Curzon and Isabel left off at the end of Chains as they escaped from Revolutionary New York City in the middle of the night. After their escape, Curzon and Isabel take different paths with Curzon becoming a soldier at Valley Forge. He later meets up with Isabel after his master has captured him forcing him to leave the army to become a servant again. This novel details the treacherous living conditions soldiers at Valley Forge faced during that harsh winter. Halse-Anderson also discusses how many black soldiers fought in the Revolution with the hopes of gaining their freedom when the war was over. Curzon is a well-developed character that students will be able to relate, especially those who are interested in black soldiers serving in the war. Female students will connect with Isabel and the determination she possess in spite of the struggles she faces being torn from her family. This book will have a follow-up story as well which readers (including myself) will be eagerly waiting for!

Jennie's Review

Online Resources:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Forge/Laurie-Halse-Anderson/9781416961444
*Readers guide at bottom of the page*
http://madwomanintheforest.com/historical-forge/
http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/links/index.html

Chains

Chains

Written by: Laurie Halse Anderson

This beautifully written piece of historical fiction written by well-known young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson gives readers a very close up view of a young slave girls experience living in New York City during the time of the American Revolution. Isabel and her sister Ruth are sold to a couple who are very involved in the political scene in New York as Loyalists to the British crown. Isabel becomes involved with a boy whose master promises her freedom if she is able to deliver secret information to and from her master to the Rebel forces. Isabel endures many hardships including the loss of her sister Ruth whom her master sells right from under her without her knowing. She must dig deep to make the biggest leap of faith she has ever made by running away in the middle of the night to freedom. This story continues into the next novel, Fever which is the second in a series of three books written by Anderson. Readers will feel a connection to this time period in US history through the authenticity of the characters in this story. There is a very well written question and answer section in the back of the book that explains the historical aspects of this novel that readers will find as a great companion to this book.

This book has received numerous awards and honors including a National Book Award Finalist in 2008, and the 2009 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Jennie's Review

Online Resources:
http://madwomanintheforest.com/teachers/historical-chains/
http://www.slavenorth.com/index.html

On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals

On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals

Written by: Nikki Giovanni

"The songs written and first sung by African-American slaves were inspired by a host of human needs: to express emotion, to call God, to remain heartened under oppression, and, perhaps most importantly, to communicate covertly, often about the Underground Railroad. Giovanni brings these motives home in this short, impressionistic look at the lives of the slaves, beginning with their holding in places such as Cape Coast Castle and Goree Island, through the end of the Civil War, when members of divided families desperately attempted to track one another down. Giovanni is a poet, and the book has cadence; in tone, it almost reads like the transcript of a speech or sermon, as the author is generous with her own opinions and often refers to herself within the text."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://nikki-giovanni.com/
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/nikki-giovanni

The Dred Scott Case: Testing the Right to Live Free

The Dred Scott Case: Testing the Right to Live Free

Written by: Jennifer Fleischner

"The author describes the case of the slave suing for his family’s freedom based on the fact that he had lived in free territories. The author discusses the political and economic ramifications of the case."

Social Studies Center (SSC)

Online Resources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html
http://digital.wustl.edu/d/dre/index.html

Gabriel's Horses

Gabriel's Horses

Written by: Alison Hart

Easy Readability

"On a Kentucky plantation during the Civil War, slave Gabriel Alexander, 12, cares for his master's thoroughbred racehorses and dreams of being a great jockey, just like his dad. After Pa enlists with the Yankees, the boy also yearns to be a soldier and fight for freedom. At the core of this stirring historical novel is the question of what freedom means. Runaway slaves and freemen join the Yankee army only to dig ditches and collect firewood for white soldiers. The boy's first-person, present-tense narrative brings close the thrilling horse racing––on the plantation, at the race course, and in the war––and the African American history in all its complexity."

Booklist Review

Awards:
Texas Bluebonnet Nominee, 2008-2009

Web Resources:
http://suzyred.com/2008gabrielshorses.html

Nightjohn

Nightjohn

Written by: Gary Paulsen

Hardship, struggle, abuse marked the lives of slaves working on plantations in the 1850’s. Award winning author Gary Paulsen breathes life into this dark period in American History in his book Nightjohn through Sarny, a twelve-year old slave girl struggling to find her way on a southern plantation. Sarny’s life changes for the better in ways she never dreamt were possible when she meets Nightjohn, a new slave on the plantation. This is a moving story about the power of friendship in the face of a dark period of American history.

Web Resources:
http://litplans.com/titles/Nightjohn_Gary_Paulsen.html
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/amliterature/amlit_lp_nightjohn_overviewunit.htm

Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship

Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship

Written by: Nikki Giovanni
Illustrated by: Bryan Collier

Easy Readability

"Our 16th president is known for many things: He delivered the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address.He was tall and skinny and notoriously stern-looking. And he also had some very strong ideas about abolishing slavery, ideas which brought him into close contact with another very visible public figure: Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born a slave but escaped in 1838 and became one of the central figures in the American abolitionist movement.

This book offers a glimpse into the unusual friendship between two great American leaders. At a time when racial tensions were high and racial equality was not yet established, Lincoln and Douglass formed a strong bond over shared ideals and worked alongside each other for a common goal."

Publishers Synopsis

Online Resources:

http://teachingwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2009/09/lincoln-and-douglass-american.html

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

Written by: Tonya Bolden

"Born free in a nation stained by slavery, where free blacks had few rights and rare respect, here was a girl determined to rise, to amount to something." In this captivating biography, Bolden introduces Maritcha Reymond Lyon, born in the mid-1800s into a family of free blacks in Manhattan. Lyon found fame as a teenager in Providence, Rhode Island, when she sued the state to gain admission to the all-white high school--the only high school in town. Bolden's succinct text focuses on Lyon's growing-up, and the attractive spreads feature well-chosen archival photographs and engravings that offer a fascinating glimpse of Lyon's world of "New York City's striving class of blacks."

Lyon had a distinguished family, and Bolden shows how its members inspired her to succeed against formidable odds, even when she felt that "the iron had entered my soul." Bolden supplements quotes from Lyon's accounts with extensive research and enthralling detail, and the result is both an inspirational portrait of an individual and a piercing history about blacks in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries--subjects rarely covered in books for youth. An author's note describes Lyon's adult achievements and lends insight into Bolden's research. Notes and a selected bibliography conclude this powerful volume."

Booklist Review

Awards:
Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2006
Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award, 2006

Web Resources:
http://www.tonyaboldenbooks.com/maritcha_a_nineteenth-century_american_girl.html

Elijah of Buxton

Elijah of Buxton

Written by: Christopher Paul Curtis

"The first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit, Elijah is best known in his hometown as the boy who threw up on Frederick Douglass. (Not on purpose, of course — he was just a baby then!)

But things change when a former slave calling himself the Right Reverend Zephariah W. Connerly the Third steals money from Elijah's friend Mr. Leroy, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the south. Elijah joins Mr. Leroy on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the disreputable preacher, and he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors of the life his parents fled — a life from which he'll always be free, if he can find the courage to go back home."

Scholastic Press

Web Resources:
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=31083_type=Book_typeId=4743

5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft's Flight from Slavery

5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft's Flight from Slavery

Written by: Dennis and Judith Fradin

"Both exciting escape adventure and gripping history, this account of a husband and wife on the run from slavery traces their journey to freedom in the U.S and across the world. Ellen is a light-skinned African American, daughter of the master who raped her mother. Disguised as a wealthy Southern gentleman, she escapes with her husband, William, disguised as her slave, and they travel by train and steamboat to freedom in Boston. When their astonishing story makes the fugitive couple famous, slave catchers come after them, so the Crafts leave for England, where they continue their abolitionist work, until their return home after the Civil War. The Fradins, whose many fine histories include Ida B. Wells (2000), draw heavily on the Crafts' personal accounts to add depth and drama to the carefully documented narrative. The handsome design includes lots of photos, archival artwork, letters, and newspaper accounts."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html

Slavery and Abolition in American History

Slavery and Abolition in American History

Written by: Linda Jones Altman

"This series entries that provide portraits of difficult periods in American history. Altman focuses on the history of slavery and the rise of the Abolition movement. Her text is filled with anecdotes about some of the movement's key figures, which help alleviate some of the dryness of the text. Ziff approaches her subject through reports on the progress and the effect of Reconstruction on the life of Robert Fitzgerald, a former Union soldier, teacher, and free black who moved South to be a teacher in Virginia and North Carolina. These vignettes help bring the story of this time to life."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam007.html
http://www.ushistory.org/more/timeline.htm

Day of Tears

Day of Tears

Written by: Julius Lester

"On March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throughout the two days, stopping only when the auction had ended. The simultaneity of the rain storm with the auction led to these two days being called "the weeping time." Master storyteller Julius Lester has taken this footnote of history and created the crowning achievement of his literary career.

Julius Lester tells the story of several characters including Emma, a slave owned by Pierce Butler and caretaker of his two daughters, and Pierce, a man with a mounting gambling debt and household to protect. Emma wants to teach his daughters—one who opposes slavery and one who supports it—to have kind hearts. Meanwhile, in a desperate bid to survive, Pierce decides to cash in his “assets” and host the largest slave auction in American history. And on that day, the skies open up and weep endlessly on the proceedings below.

Using the multiple voices of enslaved Africans and their owners, Julius Lester has taken a little-known, all-true event in American history and transformed it into a heartbreaking and powerfully dramatic epic on slavery, and the struggle to affirm humanity in the midst of it."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.tnj.com/life-style/travel/savannah-ga
http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/slaveauction.htm

To Be a Slave

To Be a Slave

Written by: Julius Lester

"To be a slave. To be owned by another person, as a car, house, or a table is owned. To live as a piece of property that could be sold...

This book is about how it felt. The words of black men and women who had themselves been slaves are here, accompanied by Julius Lester's historical commentary and Tom Feelings's powerful and muted paintings, To Be a Slave has been a touchstone in children's literature for over thirty years."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/slavery-us/activity/10981.html
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=364

Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom

Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom

Written by: Walter Dean Myers

"In 1839, there was a rebellion on the slave ship Amistad. In a bloody struggle, the African captives aboard rebelled against their kidnappers and declared mutiny. While trying to sail the ship home, the Africans accidentally ended up in New York. They were later imprisoned and put on trial for murder. Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers's probing look at this triumph over indignity and injustice shows the events' effect on the country America has become."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/amistad/

The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo

The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo

Written by: Tom Feelings

"Alex Haley's Roots awakened many Americans to the cruelty of slavery. The Middle Passage focuses attention on the torturous journey which brought slaves from Africa to the Americas, allowing readers to bear witness to the sufferings of an entire people."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p277.html
http://www.melfisher.org/exhibitions/henriettamarie/middlepassage.htm

Jump Ship to Freedom

Jump Ship to Freedom

Written by: James and Christopher Collier

Easy Readability

"Young Daniel Arabus and his mother are slaves in the house of Captain Ivers of Stratford, Connecticut. By law they should be free, since Daniel's father fought in the Revolutionary army and earned enough in soldiers' notes to buy his family's freedom.

But now Daniel's father is dead, and Mrs. Ivers has taken the notes from his mother. When Daniel bravely steals the notes back, a furious Captain Ivers forces him aboard a ship bound for the West Indies--and certain slavery. Even if Daniel can manage to jump ship in New York, will he be able to travel the long and dangerous road to freedom?"

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.coloradocollege.edu/dept/hy/hy243ruiz/Research/revolution.html

Muddy Banks

Muddy Banks

Written by: Rudy Tolliveer
Illustrated by: Walle Conoly

"The legendary Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas, in September 1863 is the basis for this novel. A 12-year-old slave named Boy jumps off a passing ship, determined to be free. Injured, he is taken in by a transplanted Yankee widow, Bethel Banks, who purchases him and renames him Muddy Boy Banks. Unknown to Muddy, she intends to free him; for his part, Muddy is resentful of his captivity, and yearns to be free like his new Cajun friend, Jo Bear. When the Yankees attack Sabine City, Muddy is confused; he wants the Yanks to win so his people will be free; yet he has grown fond of Mrs. Banks and his new white friends. Tolliver has written a terrific tale, from the humor of Muddy and Jo Bear baking bread to the pathos of Muddy's situation. Her characters spring to life: Muddy's resentment of his slavery and his confused loyalties are well portrayed, yet in terms easy enough for young readers to understand and sympathize with."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/qes2.html
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc2/sabinepass04_1.htm

The Slave Narratives of Texas

The Slave Narratives of Texas

Written by: Ron Taylor and Lawrence Murphy

"Many defenders of slavery have maintained that the slaves in Texas were well-treated and happy, but as a former slave remarked, "Tisn't he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is - 'tis he who has endured." Here are the tales of those who have endured - a collection of the voices of the ex-slaves themselves, recalling what their lives were like under slavery. Over one hundred former slaves describe their slavemasters, their work, runaway slaves, their recollections of the Civil War and, finally, the coming of freedom.

The narratives were collected by WPA interviewers in the late 1930s and subsequently edited by Ron Tyler and Lawrence R. Murphy. "The Slave Narratives of Texas" is a highly informative and readable book that provides a valuable history of the institution of slavery in Texas. It is also a profoundly moving text that yields great insight into the full impact of slavery upon human lives."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/earlystate/slavery-01.html
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/yps1.html